Interest and beliefs about BRCA genetic counseling among at-risk Latinas in New York City.
BACKGROUND
Latinas are less likely to use genetic services (counseling and testing) for hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer risk compared to other ethnic groups. Meanwhile, little is known about barriers to genetic counseling among Latinas at increased risk of inherited breast cancer.


METHODS
A two-phase pilot study was conducted to examine interest, barriers and beliefs about BRCA genetic counseling among at-risk Latinas in New York City and explore the potential for developing a culturally-tailored narrative educational tool for use in future studies. Phase 1 included quantitative telephone interviews (N = 15) with bilingual participants with a personal diagnosis at a young age and/or family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer. Quantitative results informed development of a narrative prototype educational presentation viewed by a subset of participants (N = 10) in Phase 2 focus groups.


RESULTS
Despite barriers, including lack of awareness/knowledge, concerns related to learning cancer risks of family members, and concerns about cost/health insurance, participants reported positive attitudes, beliefs and interest in learning about BRCA genetic counseling. Further, significant increases in knowledge were demonstrated from pre-post presentation (p = 0.04).


CONCLUSIONS
There is an unmet need to educate at-risk Latinas about BRCA genetic counseling. Culturally-tailored educational materials including narratives may increase knowledge about BRCA genetic counseling among this underserved group. The effectiveness of these approaches should be tested in future research with larger samples.
Department of Oncological Sciences, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, 1425 Madison Ave, Box 1130, New York, NY 10029, USA. katarina.sussner@mssm.edu
Katarina M
KM
Sussner
Lina
L
Jandorf
Hayley S
HS
Thompson
Heiddis B
HB
Valdimarsdottir
D000069:Acculturation; D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D001364:Awareness; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000523:psychology*; D005838:Genotype; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C118024:BLID protein, human; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; C551750:BRCA2 protein, human; C412457:Bin2 protein, human