You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT JAMA
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 293 No. 14, April 13, 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  JAMA
  •  Online Features
  Original Contribution
 This Article
 •Full text
 •PDF
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Citing articles on ISI (53)
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Related letters
 •Related article
 •Similar articles in JAMA
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati
What's this?

Racial Differences in the Use of BRCA1/2 Testing Among Women With a Family History of Breast or Ovarian Cancer

Katrina Armstrong, MD, MSCE; Ellyn Micco, BA; Amy Carney, BA; Jill Stopfer, MS; Mary Putt, ScD

JAMA. 2005;293:1729-1736.

Context  Given the current context of racial disparities in health and health care and the historical context of eugenics, racial disparities in the use of genetic susceptibility testing have been widely anticipated. However, to our knowledge there are no published studies examining the magnitude and determinants of racial differences in the use of genetic susceptibility testing.

Objectives  To investigate the relationship between race and the use of BRCA1/2 counseling among women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer and to determine the contribution of socioeconomic characteristics, cancer risk perception and worry, attitudes about genetic testing, and interactions with primary care physicians to racial differences in utilization.

Design, Setting, and Participants  Case-control study (December 1999-August 2003) of 408 women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, of whom 217 underwent genetic counseling for BRCA1/2 testing (cases) and 191 women did not (controls). Participants received primary care within a large health system in greater Philadelphia, Pa.

Main Outcome Measures  Probability of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation, socioeconomic characteristics, perception of breast and ovarian cancer risk, worry about breast and ovarian cancer, attitudes about BRCA1/2 testing, and primary care physician discussion of BRCA1/2 testing were measured prior to undergoing BRCA1/2 counseling for cases and at the time of enrollment for controls.

Results  African American women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer were significantly less likely to undergo genetic counseling for BRCA1/2 testing than were white women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer (odds ratio, 0.22; 95% confidence interval, 0.12-0.40). This association persisted after adjustment for probability of BRCA1/2 mutation, socioeconomic characteristics, breast and ovarian cancer risk perception and worry, attitudes about the risks and benefits of BRCA1/2 testing, and primary care physician discussion of BRCA1/2 testing (adjusted odds ratio for African American vs white, 0.28; 95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.89).

Conclusions  Racial disparities in the use of BRCA1/2 counseling are large and do not appear to be explained by differences in risk factors for carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation, socioeconomic factors, risk perception, attitudes, or primary care physician recommendations. The benefit of predictive genetic testing will not be fully realized unless these disparities can be addressed.


Author Affiliations: Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Dr Armstrong, Mss Micco, Carney, and Stopfer); Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Dr Armstrong); Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Drs Armstrong and Putt); Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania (Dr Armstrong); Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Dr Armstrong), Philadelphia, Pa.



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati     What's this?

RELATED LETTERS

Racial Differences in BRCA Testing
and
JAMA. ;294():677-677.
FULL TEXT  

Racial Differences in BRCA Testing--Reply
, , , , and
JAMA. ;294():677-678.
FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

Confronting Genetic Testing Disparities: Knowledge Is Power
and
JAMA. ;293():1783-1785.
FULL TEXT  


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Risk Information Exposure and Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing for BRCA Mutations among Women with a Personal or Family History of Breast or Ovarian Cancer
Gray et al.
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2009;18:1303-1311.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prediction of BRCA Mutations Using the BRCAPRO Model in Clinic-Based African American, Hispanic, and Other Minority Families in the United States
Huo et al.
JCO 2009;27:1184-1190.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Duration of an Intervention's Impact on Perceived Breast Cancer Risk
Quillin et al.
Health Educ Behav 2008;35:855-865.
ABSTRACT  

Too Many Referrals of Low-Risk Women for BRCA1/2 Genetic Services by Family Physicians
White et al.
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2008;17:2980-2986.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Genetics Revolution and Primary Care Pediatrics
Cheng et al.
JAMA 2008;299:451-453.
FULL TEXT  

Increased Uptake of BRCA1/2 Genetic Testing Among African American Women With a Recent Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
Susswein et al.
JCO 2008;26:32-36.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Disparities in Cancer Care
Raghavan et al.
Am Soc Clin Oncol Ed Book 2008;2008:270-273.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Genetic Testing in Diverse Populations: Are Researchers Doing Enough to Get Out the Correct Message?
Huo and Olopade
JAMA 2007;298:2910-2911.
FULL TEXT  

BRCA1 and BRCA2 Genetic Testing in Hispanic Patients: Mutation Prevalence and Evaluation of the BRCAPRO Risk Assessment Model
Vogel et al.
JCO 2007;25:4635-4641.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Reducing Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Female Breast Cancer: Screening Rates and Stage at Diagnosis
Sassi et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2006;96:2165-2172.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Mutations in families at high risk for breast cancer.
Cheung
JAMA 2006;296:2091-2091.
FULL TEXT  

Mutations in Families at High Risk for Breast Cancer--Reply
Walsh et al.
JAMA 2006;296:2091-2092.
FULL TEXT  

Ashkenazi Jews and Breast Cancer: The Consequences of Linking Ethnic Identity to Genetic Disease
Brandt-Rauf et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2006;96:1979-1988.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Racial and Ethnic Disparity in Participation in DNA Collection at the Atlanta Site of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study
Crider et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2006;164:805-812.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Race and Ethnicity in Medical Research: Requirements Meet Reality
Winker
J Law Med Ethics 2006;34:520-525.
 

Cancer Risk Assessment: Examining the Family Physician's Role
Tyler and Snyder
J Am Board Fam Med 2006;19:468-477.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Disparities in Genetic Testing: Thinking Outside the BRCA Box
Hall and Olopade
JCO 2006;24:2197-2203.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Value for the future and breast cancer-preventive health behavior.
Gurmankin Levy et al.
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2006;15:955-960.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Siblings With Ischemic Stroke Study (SWISS): A Progress Report.
Meschia et al.
Clin Med Res 2006;4:12-21.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Genetic Testing in an Ethnically Diverse Cohort of High-Risk Women: A Comparative Analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations in American Families of European and African Ancestry
Nanda et al.
JAMA 2005;294:1925-1933.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Racial Differences in BRCA Testing
Alford and Mouchawar
JAMA 2005;294:677-677.
FULL TEXT  

Counseling for BRCA Testing: Less Likely Among Black Women
JWatch Women's Health 2005;2005:7-7.
FULL TEXT  

US black women are less likely to have genetic tests for breast cancer
Mayor
BMJ 2005;330:865-865.
FULL TEXT  

Confronting Genetic Testing Disparities: Knowledge Is Power
Hall and Olopade
JAMA 2005;293:1783-1785.
FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 2005 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.