title: Primary care physicians' awareness, experience and opinions of direct-to-consumer genetic testing.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess primary care physicians' awareness, experience, opinions and preparedness to answer patients' questions regarding direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing. An anonymous survey was mailed to 2,402 family and internal medicine providers in North Carolina. Of the 382 respondents, 38.7% (n = 148) were aware of and 15% (n = 59) felt prepared to answer questions about DTC genetic tests. Respondents aged 50 or older were more likely to be aware of DTC genetic testing than those less than 40 years old (OR = 2.42). Male providers were more likely to feel prepared to answer questions than female providers (OR = 2.65). Among respondents who reportedly were aware, family practitioners were more likely than internists (OR = 3.30) to think DTC testing was clinically useful, and 18.9% had patients ask questions or bring in test results. The small percent of physicians who were aware of DTC genetic testing or felt prepared to answer questions about it suggests that education of providers will be necessary if testing becomes more widespread.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, Genomics & Health Research, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, USA. klpowel2@uncg.edu
authors.forename: Karen P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Whitney A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Cogswell
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Christianson
authors.forename: Gaurav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dave
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eubanks
authors.forename: Vincent C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Henrich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires