title: 'They had the right to know.' Genetic risk and perceptions of responsibility.
abstract: The idea that people should be responsible for their health is not new. The construction of health as a moral issue has often been applied to voluntary health risks. With the advent of predictive genetic testing, however, people may also bear responsibility for their genetic risks. Drawing upon 24 semi-structured interviews with at risk persons and their family members, this study explored perceptions of responsibility associated with genetic risk for the adult-onset disorder, Huntington disease (HD). Qualitative data analysis suggested that decisions around genetic risk were often influenced by obligations to other family members. Some participants felt responsible to determine their genetic risks through testing, particularly for at risk offsprings. Responsibility to current and future partners, to plan for a future that might include HD and to communicate genetic risk to other family members also emerged as important dimensions of genetic responsibility. It is argued that perceptions of responsibility in this context may constrain some of the choices of those who live with genetic risk having implications for test decisions, post-test adjustment and family relationships.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Psychology, GAP-Santé Research Group , National Institute of Population Health; Faculty of Medicine, Epidemiology & Community Medicine, GeneSens Research Group University of Ottawa , St John's , NL.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Etchegary
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fowler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002170:Canada; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000941:ethics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012941:Social Responsibility; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Huntington disease; genetic decision-making; genetic responsibility; genetic testing; moral obligation