title: Psychosocial consequences of genetic counseling: a population-based follow-up study.
abstract: We aimed to examine the psychosocial impact of genetic counseling for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer 1 year following genetic counseling. We conducted a population-based prospective follow-up study of 213 women who received genetic counseling for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, 319 women who underwent mammography (Reference Group I), and a random sample of 1,070 women from the general population (Reference Group II). The prevalence of anxiety decreased by 4.7% (95% CI: -3.5; 12.8) from baseline to 1 year of follow-up in the Genetic Counseling Group. Likewise, it decreased by 2.5% (95% CI: -4.5; 9.5) in Reference Group I and by 1.1% (95% CI: -2.3; 4.7) in Reference Group II. The prevalence of depression increased equally (1-3%) in the three study groups. 52% of the women referred for genetic counseling experienced cancer-specific distress at baseline and this proportion decreased to 41% after 12 months of follow-up. This decrease of 10.8% (95% CI: 1.4; 20.8) exceeded the decrease observed in both Reference Groups. However, it was statistically significant only in the case of Reference Group II (p=0.006). Our findings indicate that genetic counseling can help alleviate cancer-specific distress among women with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer. Further, genetic counseling does not appear to have an adverse impact on general anxiety, symptoms of depression, or health-related quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus N, Denmark. em@dce.au.dk
authors.forename: Ellen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Mikkelsen
authors.forename: Lone
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sunde
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.forename: Søren P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Johnsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*