Awareness of cancer susceptibility genetic testing: the 2000, 2005, and 2010 National Health Interview Surveys.

BACKGROUND Genetic testing for several cancer susceptibility syndromes is clinically available; however, existing data suggest limited population awareness of such tests. PURPOSE To examine awareness regarding cancer genetic testing in the U.S. population aged ≥25 years in the 2000, 2005, and 2010 National Health Interview Surveys. METHODS The weighted percentages of respondents aware of cancer genetic tests, and percent changes from 2000-2005 and 2005-2010, overall and by demographic, family history, and healthcare factors were calculated. Interactions were used to evaluate the patterns of change in awareness between 2005 and 2010 among subgroups within each factor. To evaluate associations with awareness in 2005 and 2010, percentages were adjusted for covariates using multiple logistic regression. The analysis was performed in 2012. RESULTS Awareness decreased from 44.4% to 41.5% (p<0.001) between 2000 and 2005, and increased to 47.0% (p<0.001) in 2010. Awareness increased between 2005 and 2010 in most subgroups, particularly among individuals in the South (pinteraction=0.03) or with a usual place of care (pinteraction=0.01). In 2005 and 2010, awareness was positively associated with personal or family cancer history and high perceived cancer risk, and inversely associated with racial/ethnic minorities, age 25-39 or ≥60 years, male gender, lower education and income levels, public or no health insurance, and no provider contact in 12 months. CONCLUSIONS Despite improvement from 2005 to 2010, ≤50% of the U.S. adult population was aware of cancer genetic testing in 2010. Notably, disparities persist for racial/ethnic minorities and individuals with limited health care access or income.

[1]  E. Mitchell,et al.  Genetic Testing for Inherited Breast Cancer Risk in African Americans , 2005, Cancer investigation.

[2]  Anne L. Ersig,et al.  Characteristics of health information gatherers, disseminators, and blockers within families at risk of hereditary cancer: implications for family health communication interventions. , 2009, American journal of public health.

[3]  Beth A. Glenn,et al.  Barriers to genetic testing for breast cancer risk among ethnic minority women: an exploratory study. , 2012, Ethnicity & disease.

[4]  Suzanne Laurion,et al.  Assessing controversial direct-to-consumer advertising for hereditary breast cancer testing: reactions from women and their physicians in a managed care organization. , 2005, The American journal of managed care.

[5]  Julie O. Culver,et al.  Genetics, genomics, and cancer risk assessment , 2011, CA: a cancer journal for clinicians.

[6]  S. Vadaparampil,et al.  Awareness, Perceptions, and Provider Recommendation Related to Genetic Testing for Hereditary Breast Cancer Risk among At-Risk Hispanic Women: Similarities and Variations by Sub-Ethnicity , 2010, Journal of Genetic Counseling.

[7]  M. Hall,et al.  Influence of Race/Ethnicity on Genetic Counseling and Testing for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer , 2009, The breast journal.

[8]  T. Thompson.  Handbook of health communication , 2008 .

[9]  K. Honda.  Who gets the information about genetic testing for cancer risk? The role of race/ethnicity, immigration status, and primary care clinicians , 2003, Clinical genetics.

[10]  Richard P. Moser,et al.  Increasing Public Awareness of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests: Health Care Access, Internet Use, and Population Density Correlates , 2012, Journal of cancer epidemiology.

[11]  L. Wideroff,et al.  The Impact of Acculturation on Awareness of Genetic Testing for Increased Cancer Risk among Hispanics in the Year 2000 National Health Interview Survey , 2006, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

[12]  K. Offit,et al.  Hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes. , 2005, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

[13]  S. S. Sheinfeld Gorin,et al.  Awareness of Genetic Testing for Cancer among United States Hispanics: The Role of Acculturation , 2008, Public Health Genomics.

[14]  B. Goff,et al.  Reported referral for genetic counseling or BRCA 1/2 testing among United States physicians , 2011, Cancer.

[15]  R. J. Cline.  Everyday Interpersonal Communication and Health , 2011 .

[16]  David A Asch,et al.  Racial and ethnic disparities in awareness of genetic testing for cancer risk. , 2009, American journal of preventive medicine.

[17]  K. Viswanath,et al.  Cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising: a critical review , 2011, Nature Reviews Cancer.

[18]  Doug Brown,et al.  Primary Care Physicians , 2020, Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine.

[19]  Edward L. Korn,et al.  Analysis of Health Surveys , 1999 .

[20]  M. Greene,et al.  Hereditary breast/ovarian and colorectal cancer genetics knowledge in a national sample of US physicians , 2005, Journal of Medical Genetics.

[21]  Muin J Khoury,et al.  Awareness and utilization of BRCA1/2 testing among U.S. primary care physicians. , 2011, American journal of preventive medicine.

[22]  R. Simmons,et al.  Awareness and Preferences Regarding BRCA1/2 Genetic Counseling and Testing Among Latinas and Non-Latina White Women at Increased Risk for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer , 2011, Journal of Genetic Counseling.

[23]  J. Garber,et al.  Guidelines for Genetic Risk Assessment of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Early Disagreements and Low Utilization , 2009, Journal of General Internal Medicine.

[24]  D. Meaney-Delman,et al.  Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genome Testing and Cancer Risk Prediction , 2012, Cancer journal.

[25]  E. Einsiedel,et al.  Evaluating online direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic tests: informed choices or buyers beware? , 2008, Genetic testing.

[26]  Direct-to-consumer sales of genetic services on the Internet , 2003 .

[27]  Douglas E Levy,et al.  Underutilization of BRCA1/2 testing to guide breast cancer treatment: Black and Hispanic women particularly at risk , 2011, Genetics in Medicine.

[28]  M. Slattery,et al.  Comparison of self-reported and database-linked family history of cancer data in a case-control study. , 1997, American journal of epidemiology.

[29]  Colleen M McBride,et al.  Consumers' views of direct-to-consumer genetic information. , 2010, Annual review of genomics and human genetics.

[30]  Mitchell H Gail,et al.  Confirmation of family cancer history reported in a population-based survey. , 2011, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[31]  K. Glanz,et al.  Underreporting of family history of colon cancer: correlates and implications. , 1999, Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology.

[32]  R. Croyle,et al.  Awareness of Genetic Testing for Increased Cancer Risk in the Year 2000 National Health Interview Survey , 2004, Public Health Genomics.