Papers by Regina Otero-Sabogal
Journal of Cancer Education, 2003
There is little ethnic diversity at the doctoral level among researchers in cancer control. The M... more There is little ethnic diversity at the doctoral level among researchers in cancer control. The Minority Training Program in Cancer Control Research is designed to encourage underrepresented master's level health science students to pursue doctoral training and careers in research. Program components include an annual 5-day summer institute, internships, and doctoral incentive awards. Intention to pursue doctoral training is measured before and after participation. Doctoral applications and enrollment are tracked through annual surveys. Seventy students participated during the first three years, 1999-2001. Intention to apply increased significantly for each class (year one, p %lt; 0.001; year two, p = 0.042; year three, p = 0.006). Thirty-one percent of participants have either enrolled in doctoral programs (n= 10) or report plans to apply in the next one to two years (n = 9). Over half of these students indicated that the MTPCCR had a positive influence on their plans. A targeted training program encourages under-represented students to pursue doctoral degrees and thus has the potential to increase ethnic diversity in public health research.
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JNCI Monographs
Young immigrant Latinas, compared with non-Latina white adolescents, are at greater risk to begin... more Young immigrant Latinas, compared with non-Latina white adolescents, are at greater risk to begin smoking and experimenting with other substances; yet little is known about the contributing factors that place them at this risk. To identify psychosocial predictors of smoking, a sample of 447 self-identified Latinas and 160 non-Latina white adolescents aged 13-18 years from San Francisco and San Mateo counties, Calif., answered a 30-minute face-to-face questionnaire. Significant predictors of smoking status for the entire sample were (a) self-efficacy to avoid smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 5-21; P < .001), (b) intention to smoke even if it is risky (OR = 10; 95% CI = 5-20; P < .001), (c) usage of free time (OR = 4; 95% CI = 2-8; P < .001), (d) personal approval of others' smoking (OR = 3; 95% CI = 1-5; P < .01), and (e) peer's smoking approval (OR = 2; 95% CI = 1-4; P < .05). The majority of the adolescent smokers in this study reported low levels of self-efficacy for avoiding smoking and believed that they would continue to smoke even if it was risky. They spent more of their free time with friends or alone, reported higher personal approval of significant others' smoking, and reported stronger perceived peer's approval of smoking than nonsmokers. For non-Latina whites, personal approval of others' smoking and having serious problems were associated with smoking.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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JNCI Monographs
Compared with Anglos (non-Latino whites), incidences of breast and colorectal cancers are lower f... more Compared with Anglos (non-Latino whites), incidences of breast and colorectal cancers are lower for Latinos and incidences of cervical cancer are higher for Latinos. In regional and national studies, Latinos obtain fewer cancer screening tests for cervical, breast, and colorectal cancers when compared with Anglo populations. It remains unclear if these differences are due solely to socioeconomic status. To evaluate self-reported use of these tests by ethnicity, we conducted telephone interviews about the use of the Pap smear, clinical breast examination, mammogram, rectal examination, fecal occult blood test, and sigmoidoscopy. Cross-sectional, random-digit dialing telephone surveys of Latino and Anglo adults, 35-74 years of age, living in San Francisco and Alameda Counties, Calif. were used. A total of 798 Latinos (398 men and 408 women) and 436 Anglos (214 men and 222 women) completed the interview. Age-adjusted rates showed that 82.0% of Latinas reported a Pap smear within 3 years compared with 85.1% of Anglo women. A clinical breast examination within 2 years was reported by 82.1% of Latinas and by 88.9% of Anglo women. Screening mammograms within 2 years were reported by 57.8% of Latinas and by 72.3% of Anglo women (difference = -14.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -21.5, -7.5). Compared with Anglos, fewer Latinos reported digital-rectal examinations within 2 years (44.6% versus 61.8%; difference = -17.2%; 95% CI = -22.6, -11.8). There were no significant differences by ethnicity in obtaining a fecal occult blood test within 2 years (32.3% versus 34.0%) and sigmoidoscopy within 5 years (18.9% versus 21.5%). After adjusting for age, education, health insurance, employment, marital status, county of residence, and self-perceived health status, Latino ethnicity was a significant predictor only for digital-rectal examination within 2 years (odds ratio [OR] = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.49-0.86) and digital-rectal examination ever (OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.40-0.74). Latinos were significantly more likely to cite forgetfulness, lack of transportation, long wait for appointments, and need for child care as reasons for not having cancer screening tests. We conclude that after accounting for socioeconomic factors, Latino ethnicity is a relatively minor predictor of use of cancer screening tests. Increasing the availability of culturally appropriate educational materials and providing universal health care coverage are more important priorities to promote appropriate use of cancer screening tests by Latinos.
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ABSTRACT
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Public Health Reports
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Quality in primary care
The role of community health workers (CHWs) has expanded from outreach and education to working w... more The role of community health workers (CHWs) has expanded from outreach and education to working within a clinical team in a primary care setting. To improve self-management among patients with type 2 diabetes incorporating CHWs as members of a clinical team. A cohort of 114 patients with type 2 diabetes enrolled in 2007 participated in a teambased self-management intervention with followup in 2008. The study assessed whether significant changes occurred in clinical, patient satisfaction and activation measures after the intervention compared with baseline. The programme was located at St Luke's Health Care Center in San Francisco, California, in an ethnically diverse neighbourhood serving predominantly low-income Latino patients. Clinical outcomes measured included glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), blood pressure and total cholesterol. A Patient Activation Measure (PAM) assessed self-management. Both provider and patient experiences with the progra...
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Purpose To explore parental beliefs and attitudes about confidential services for their teenagers... more Purpose To explore parental beliefs and attitudes about confidential services for their teenagers; and to develop an instrument to assess these beliefs and attitudes that could be used among English and Spanish speakers. The long-term goal is to use this research to better understand and evaluate interventions to improve parental knowledge and attitudes toward their adolescent's access and utilization of comprehensive confidential health services. Methods The instrument was developed using an extensive literature review and theoretical framework followed by qualitative data from focus groups and in-depth interviews. It was then pilot tested with a random sample of English- and Spanish-speaking parents and further revised. The final instrument was administered to a random sample of 1,000 mothers. The psychometric properties of the instrument were assessed for Spanish and English speakers. Results The instrument consisted of 12 scales. Most Cronbach alphas were >.70 for Spanish...
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Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, 1995
Current knowledge is scarce on Latino dietary practices. This study compared the dietary practice... more Current knowledge is scarce on Latino dietary practices. This study compared the dietary practices, alcohol consumption, and smoking behavior of Latinos and non-Latino whites in two randomly selected samples. Telephone surveys of adults 35-74 years of age from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program (Latinos = 844; non-Latino whites = 510) and from census tract-based areas (Latinos = 806; non-Latino whites = 436) were conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area. Latino ethnicity was a significant predictor of dietary and alcohol consumption practices in multivariate logistic regression models after adjustment for sex, education, age, employment, health insurance, martial status, county of residence, and self-perceived health status. Compared with non-Latino whites, Latinos were significantly less likely to report eating vegetables and more likely to eat rice, beans, and fried foods and to drink whole milk. Less acculturated Latinos were more likely to eat fruits, rice, beans, meat, a...
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Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, 1995
Difficulties in identification of Latinos from secondary datasets have often been addressed by th... more Difficulties in identification of Latinos from secondary datasets have often been addressed by the use of a Spanish surname list. To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the 1980 U.S. Census Spanish surname list in correctly identifying Latino ethnicity, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of adult members of a prepaid health plan in the San Francisco Bay Area. We compared a randomly selected list of 1345 Spanish surnames and 717 non-Spanish surnames from health plan membership lists with their self-identified race and ethnicity obtained by telephone interviews. The sample was stratified according to surname group (Spanish or non-Spanish), sex, age, and county. Compared with self-identified ethnicity, a Spanish surname was 88.4% sensitive in identifying Latino men and 70.4% sensitive in identifying Latina women. The non-Spanish surname list was 94.1% sensitive and 95.0% specific in correctly identifying non-Latinos. Although the overall negative predictive value was 97.8%, ...
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Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 1989
Data from 263 Hispanic smokers in the San Francisco area showed that, in general, among the highl... more Data from 263 Hispanic smokers in the San Francisco area showed that, in general, among the highly acculturated, attitudes, norms, and expectancies toward smoking resembled those held by an equivalent group of white non-Hispanic smokers. Level of acculturation had no significant effect on generalized attitudes toward smoking, but it was associated with the level of certainty with which five stereotypes
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Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1989
We interviewed 263 Hispanic and 150 non-Hispanic white smokers in order to evaluate cultural diff... more We interviewed 263 Hispanic and 150 non-Hispanic white smokers in order to evaluate cultural differences in perceived self-efficacy to avoid cigarette smoking, and addiction to cigarettes. Non-Hispanic whites have higher levels of addiction to nicotine and smoke more cigarettes than Hispanics, but increasing acculturation minimized cultural differences. Perceived self-efficacy to avoid smoking was negatively related to the perceived level of
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The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2014
To explore parental beliefs and attitudes about confidential services for their teenagers; and to... more To explore parental beliefs and attitudes about confidential services for their teenagers; and to develop an instrument to assess these beliefs and attitudes that could be used among English and Spanish speakers. The long-term goal is to use this research to better understand and evaluate interventions to improve parental knowledge and attitudes toward their adolescent's access and utilization of comprehensive confidential health services. The instrument was developed using an extensive literature review and theoretical framework followed by qualitative data from focus groups and in-depth interviews. It was then pilot tested with a random sample of English- and Spanish-speaking parents and further revised. The final instrument was administered to a random sample of 1,000 mothers. The psychometric properties of the instrument were assessed for Spanish and English speakers. The instrument consisted of 12 scales. Most Cronbach alphas were >.70 for Spanish and English speakers. F...
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Quality in primary care, 2010
The role of community health workers (CHWs) has expanded from outreach and education to working w... more The role of community health workers (CHWs) has expanded from outreach and education to working within a clinical team in a primary care setting. To improve self-management among patients with type 2 diabetes incorporating CHWs as members of a clinical team. A cohort of 114 patients with type 2 diabetes enrolled in 2007 participated in a teambased self-management intervention with followup in 2008. The study assessed whether significant changes occurred in clinical, patient satisfaction and activation measures after the intervention compared with baseline. The programme was located at St Luke's Health Care Center in San Francisco, California, in an ethnically diverse neighbourhood serving predominantly low-income Latino patients. Clinical outcomes measured included glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), blood pressure and total cholesterol. A Patient Activation Measure (PAM) assessed self-management. Both provider and patient experiences with the progra...
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International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 1987
A relatively large percentage of Hispanics in the United States smoke. Yet a large proportion of ... more A relatively large percentage of Hispanics in the United States smoke. Yet a large proportion of Hispanics are light smokers, smoking ten or fewer cigarettes per day. Previous research has shown that most light smokers quit smoking on their own and that health education and an environment conducive to non-smoking can have a significant impact in reducing smoking rates. Given the current smoking patterns of Hispanics, culturally appropriate media-based community intervention to promote smoking cessation can have a significant impact. This study identified patterns of media use and language preference among a sample of 263 Hispanic smokers from the San Francisco Bay Area. Based on this study, recommendations to reach Hispanic smokers with a series of communication strategies are suggested.
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PsycTESTS Dataset, 2000
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PsycTESTS Dataset, 2000
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Substance Use & Misuse, 1989
A group of Hispanic and White non-Hispanic smokers were asked to report the stereotypes they hold... more A group of Hispanic and White non-Hispanic smokers were asked to report the stereotypes they hold of smokers in general. All respondents tended to think that smokers were Nervous, Friendly, and Sociable; although White non-Hispanics felt more certain than Hispanics that smokers were Friendly, Aggressive, Sociable, Attractive, and Feminine. Factor analyses of the responses showed three common (across ethnicity) factors: Sociability, Self-Presentation, and Nervousness. Only the Self-Presentation factor showed statistically significant differences between the two ethnic groups. The amount of cigarettes smoked had no effect on the stereotypes but the more highly acculturated Hispanics showed stereotypes that resembled those of the White non-Hispanics.
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Preventive Medicine, 2001
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Preventive Medicine, 1995
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Papers by Regina Otero-Sabogal