Currently, no studies have focused on developing
a more effective strategy to identify HBV-positive
African-born persons.The objective of this
research is to use in-depth interviews to determine
factors that African-born persons living in the US
identify as cultural and personal barriers and facilitators
to HBV screening. In-depth interviews
were chosen as a first step to gain deeper insight
onto the socio-cultural factors that influence HBV
screening. We hypothesized that barriers to HBV
testing in this population include factors that are
shared with other vulnerable populations (eg, language,
health literacy, medical mistrust, immigration
status, and access to culturally competent
health care) and unique factors, such as distinct
forms of stigma.