Minority Health and Health Equity Archive

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21769

Welcome to the Minority Health and Health Equity Archive (MHHEA), an electronic archive for digital resource materials in the fields of minority health and health disparities research and policy. It is offered as a no-charge resource to the public, academic scholars and health science researchers interested in the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities.

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Author: search.filters.author.Armstrong, KatrinaSubject: search.filters.subject.Cancer

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    Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Awareness of Genetic Testing for Cancer Risk
    (2009) Pagán, José A.; Su, Dejun; Li, Lifeng; Armstrong, Katrina; Asch, David A.
    BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic disparities in awareness of genetic testing for cancer risk are substantial. PURPOSE: This study assesses the relative importance of contributing factors to gaps in awareness of genetic testing for cancer risk across racial and ethnic groups. METHODS: Data from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey (N=25,364) were analyzed in 2009 to evaluate the contribution of demographic factors, SES, health status, nativity/length of residency in the U.S., personal/family history of cancer, and perceived cancer risk to racial and ethnic disparities in genetic testing awareness for cancer risk. The contribution of each factor was assessed using the Fairlie decomposition technique. RESULTS: About 48% of non-Hispanic whites reported that they had heard about genetic testing, followed by 31% of blacks, 28% of Asians, and 19% of Hispanics. Education and nativity/length of residency in the U.S. explained 26% and 30% of the gap between whites and Hispanics, respectively. Education accounted for 22% of the white-black gap, with residential region explaining another 11%. Nativity/length of residency in the U.S. explained 51% of the white-Asian gap. CONCLUSIONS: The relative importance of factors contributing to racial and ethnic disparities in genetic testing awareness is specific to the particular groups under comparison. Diverse, culturally competent approaches are needed to improve awareness for different racial and ethnic groups.
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    The Association Between Knowledge and Attitudes About Genetic Testing for Cancer Risk in the United States
    (2005) Rose, Abigail; Peters, Nikki; Shea, Judy A; Armstrong, Katrina
    Attitudes about genetic testing are likely to be an important determinant of uptake of predictive genetic tests among the general public. Several prior studies have suggested that positive attitudes about genetic testing may be inversely related to knowledge about genetic testing. We conducted a random-digit-dialing (RDD) telephone survey of 961 adults in the continental United States to determine the associations among knowledge of, attitudes about, and perceptions of eligibility for genetic testing for cancer risk. Knowledge about genetic testing for cancer risk was generally high, with a mean accuracy score of 72%. Attitudes about genetic testing for cancer risk were also generally positive, with 87% of respondents reporting genetic testing for cancer risk would be used to help doctors manage their health care and 85% to help scientists find cures for diseases. In contrast, 58% of respondents thought genetic testing for cancer risk would be used to prevent them from getting health insurance and 31% to allow the government to label groups as inferior. Twenty-nine percent of respondents thought they were currently eligible for testing. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics and family cancer history, higher knowledge was correlated with more positive attitudes about testing, but not with negative attitudes or perceptions of testing eligibility. Family history was positively associated with perceptions of eligibility (OR 3.49, 95%CI 2.36–5.18), and higher levels of education were inversely associated with perceptions of eligibility (OR 0.55, 95%CI 0.32–0.94 for comparison of college or higher vs. less than high school). These results suggest that most members of the general public are knowledgeable and have positive attitudes about genetic testing for cancer risk and that greater knowledge is correlated with more positive attitudes about the benefits of testing.