Cancer Fatalism Among Asian American Adults by Origin Group, 2012–2022

Abstract

Backgrounds: Cancer fatalism, the belief that cancer is predetermined and unpreventable, is associated with lower uptake of cancer prevention. Little is known about cancer fatalism prevalence within various Asian origin groups. Methods: We conducted a disaggregated analysis of cancer fatalism among Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, and other Asian respondents using the 2012–2022 Health Information National Trends Survey. Pairwise comparisons were conducted to assess differences between each racial and ethnic group. Results: Significantly lower proportions of Indian respondents (40.36%) endorsed the statement “It seems like everything causes cancer,” when compared with Vietnamese (74.59%, p = 0.0002) and Filipino (75.18%, p = 0.0009) respondents. Lower proportions of Indian and Chinese respondents endorsed the statement “There's not much you can do to lower your chances of getting cancer” when compared with Vietnamese and Filipino respondents, though these differences were not significant. Conclusions: Findings highlight the heterogeneity among Asian origin groups and emphasize the importance of disaggregated data collection by origin group, which can inform culturally tailored interventions.