Genetic testing, genetic information, and the role of maternal-child health nurses in Israel.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the rate of genetic testing, the characteristics of those who had these tests, and to examine the public's openness to the possibility of expanding nurses' roles in maternal-child health (MCH) clinics to include providing genetic information.


METHODS
The study was conducted in nine MCH clinics in the central district of Israel. All women attending the clinics during 1 week were requested to complete the questionnaire. The sample consisted of 361 participants.


RESULTS
A high rate of genetic testing (80.4%) was shown. Higher education, being secular, and native-born Israeli predicted testing performance. Half of the tested participants reported that they did not understand the test results and were interested in receiving explanations regarding these results. Forty-four percent of respondents were interested in receiving genetic information from an MCH nurse.


CONCLUSIONS
A high rate of genetic testing performance was reported. The public reported lack of information regarding genetic tests and their results. An appropriate setting for providing this information is the maternal-child health clinics.
Barnoy
Sivia
S
Department of Nursing, School of Health Professions, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. sivia@post.tau.ac.il
Appel
Dorit
D
Peretz
Chava
C
Meiraz
Hana
H
Ehrenfeld
Mally
M
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003657:Decision Making; D004522:Educational Status; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D016015:Logistic Models; D008423:Maternal Age; D016389:Maternal-Child Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires