Family health history of colorectal cancer: a structural equation model of factors influencing Chinese Americans’ communication with family members

Chinese Americans, the largest subgroup of Asian Americans with a 63% of first generation immigrants (1,2), suffer from high incidences and mortality rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) (3,4). CRC is the second most diagnosed cancer for both Chinese American males and females. It also ranks as the second leading cause of death by cancer for Chinese American women and third for Chinese American men (3). Family health history (FHH) of CRC is a record of an individual’s CRC family medical history and plays an important role in CRC prevention. As an identification marker to classify the CRC risk level, FHH of CRC can help physicians provide patients with personalized CRC prevention recommendations, such as undergoing early or more frequent CRC screenings, receiving genetic testing and counseling, as well as engaging in specific healthy behaviors to lower the risk of CRC (5-8)