Importance of Race and Ethnicity in Individuals’ Use of and Responses to Genomic Information

Importance of race and ethnicity in individuals' use of and responses to genomic information" (2016). Biostatistics Faculty Publications. Paper 5. Kimberly A Kaphingst and Melody S Goodman. Importance of race and ethnicity in individuals' use of and responses to genomic information. Keywords: access • ethnicity • genetic testing • genomic information • health disparities • race Genomic information is becoming increasingly important in healthcare with possible uses including the personalization of prevention and treatment recommendations and motivation for health behavior change [1]. In order to translate genomic information effectively to clinical and public health contexts , we need to understand how individuals from different population subgroups use this information as costly or complicated advances may in fact exacerbate health disparities. Thus, a critical issue as the integration of genomic information expands will be to investigate use of and responses to this information across racial and ethnic groups to avoid widening existing disparities in access to and uptake of health information and services that impact health outcomes [1]. In a previous study, we found evidence that race and ethnicity affect responses to information about genomic risk for common, chronic conditions in a medically underserved patient population. Participants viewed a hypothetical vignette that presented risk for either heart disease or diabetes following a genomic assessment. We found that non-Hispanic black participants had significantly greater interest in discussing the genomic risk information with a doctor compared with white participants, and both non-Hispanic black and Hispanic participants had greater interest in discussing the information with family than white participants. In addition to these communication responses, black and Hispanic participants reported that they intended to change fewer health behaviors than white participants based on the information , although Hispanic participants were more interested in receiving a genomic assessment than white participants [2]. These findings therefore suggested that both interest in accessing genomic information and resulting behavioral responses may differ by race and ethnicity. Although the research base is limited , other studies have also examined how race and ethnicity might affect responses to genomic information. For example, a study investigating use of risk reduction strategies following genetic counseling and testing for BRCA1 among female members of an African–American kindred showed that surveillance was preferred to prophylactic surgery and chemoprevention for cancer risk reduction. The findings also revealed sub-optimal provider–patient communication in this patient group [3]. The evidence in this area suggests that responses to genomic …