title: Cultural aspects of healthy BRCA carriers from two ethnocultural groups.
abstract: We explored the experiences of Ashkenazi Jewish and French Canadian women and meanings attributed to their hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) risk. We purposively sampled 40 BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA) mutation carriers and conducted theoretically driven semistructured interviews. According to content analysis, participants from these two ethnocultural groups held divergent meanings associated with being a BRCA carrier and different views pertaining to the illness experience and risk awareness. All participants identified a genetic basis; however, the French Canadian women also expressed other causes. The French Canadian women reported not knowing other carriers in their social environment, whereas the Ashkenazi Jewish women emphasized a strong sense of community contributing to their ethnic risk awareness. Based on these findings, we suggest that French Canadian women could benefit from greater awareness of the HBOC genetic risk and that health care providers should consider ethnically related and individual-based experiences and meanings during counseling.
authors.affiliation: 1Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navarro de Souza
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Groleau
authors.forename: Carmen G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Loiselle
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Foulkes
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001364:Awareness; D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006580:Genetic Carrier Screening; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000523:psychology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007585:Jews / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D011792:Quebec; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012933:Social Identification; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D019313:BRCA1 Protein; C492913:BRCA1 protein, human; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; C551750:BRCA2 protein, human
keywords: cancer, breast; cancer, genetics; content analysis; culture / cultural competence; psychosocial issues; risk