A recent research has shown that many African Americans avoid getting screened for cancer hearing public service announcements and cancer news stories that highlight the fact that African Americans are often diagnosed with cancer at a later stage and have a lower survival rate as compared to whites.

Dr. Robert Nicholson of the St. Louis University School of Public Health said, "We have typically assumed that one of the best ways to motivate individuals is to point out disparities in health, but we may be having negative unintended consequences."

He further warned, "Instead of motivating people who would be less likely to get these services in the first place, we may be driving them away."

In the trial 300 African Americans adults were asked to read one of four differing articles on colon cancer formatted in the style of a USA Today story, and then answer questions about their likelihood of going for screening. The participants were an average of 54 years of age, mostly women and nearly all of them had completed high school.

The first article an “impact story” highlighted the fact that colon cancer was a problem for African Americans. Classified as disparity stories, the second said colon cancer outcome was worse for blacks than whites while the third mentioned that the outcome was improving for blacks but not as rapidly as for whites. The fourth article, a "progress" story, reported on the improvement in colon cancer outcomes for blacks over time.

The researchers found that articles that highlighted outcomes being worse for blacks than for whites, or outcomes were improving faster for whites than for blacks, evoked more negative emotional responses and made readers less inclined to be screened.

The researchers said, the findings suggest that "cancer communication messages that include race-specific data for African-Americans will be better received and have greater impact when they emphasize the progress African-Americans are making."

Emphasizing racial disparities in cancer may undermine prevention and control efforts by making minorities less apt to go for screening, Nicholson and colleagues say. "We believe that a positive message would go a long way toward overcoming mistrust," Dr. Nicholson said.

The study reported online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention was supported by the National Cancer Institute Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research Program and Dr. Nicholson was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke.