Health Seeking Behavior in African American Women

Disparities exist in the health-seeking behavior of African American (AA) women in the United States. Specifically, AA women 40 years and older often do not adhere to guidelines for breast cancer screening because of demographic and socioeconomic factors that have impacted health disparities. The purpose of this study was to research negative health-seeking behavior toward early-stage breast cancer detection in AA women 40 years and older. The main research questions addressed whether there is a relationship between negative health-seeking behavior, operationally defined as lack of a personal doctor, lack of health insurance, and lack of doctor visits within the past 12 months, and early-stage breast cancer detection, operationally defined as lack of mammogram screening within the past 2 years, in AA women 40 years and older. This quantitative study was guided by the health belief model. A cross-sectional design was used along with secondary data from the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. Wald chi-square was used to examine the relationship between the dependent variables and the independent variable. The relationship between lack of a personal doctor, lack of health insurance, lack of doctor visits within the past 12 months, and lack of mammogram screening within the past 2 years was statistically significant at p \u3c .05. The findings based on the significance between the variables confirmed that negative health- seeking behavior affects early-stage breast cancer detection in AA women 40 years and older. The results of this study may inform the development of educational programs that are instrumental in promoting and improving mammogram screening and early-stage breast cancer detection among AA women age 40 years and older

Use optimization of natural antioxidants in refined, bleached, and deodorized palm olein during repeated deep-fat frying using response surface methodology

An optimization study on the use of oleoresin rosemary extract, sage extract, and citric acid added into refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD) palm olein in deep-fat frying of potato chips was carried out using response surface methodology (RSM). Results showed that oleoresin rosemary extract was the most important factor affecting the sensory acceptability of potato chips. For taste and odor, its effects were highly significant (P<0.01), while for crispiness and overall acceptability, the effects were significant (P<0.05). As for sage extract, the level of this antioxidant had a highly significant (P<0.01) effect on appearance and taste and a significant effect (P<0.05) on odor and overall acceptability, but had no effect on crispiness. Although there was no significant synergistic correlation between citric acid and oleoresin rosemary extract or sage extract at the first order, its second order was significantly (P<0.05) related to taste, crispiness, and overall acceptability. An interaction between oleoresin rosemary and sage extracts also significantly (P<0.05) improved the score of overall acceptability of the potato chips. Contour maps of the sensory scores of potato chips indicated that the optimal points for appearance were achieved using 0.062% oleoresin rosemary extract, 0.066% sage extract, and 0.023% citric acid, while optimal task was achieved with 0.063% oleoresin rosemary extract, 0.075% sage extract, and 0.025% citric acid. With the same sequence of ingredients added into oil, the combinations required to achieve the optimal odor, crispiness, and overall acceptability scores were 0.058-0.046-0.026, 0.060-0.071-0.022, and 0.060-0.064-0.026%, respectively