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Impact of Huntington Disease Gene‐Positive Status on Pre‐Symptomatic Young Adults and Recommendations for Genetic Counselors
Author(s) -
Gong Ping,
Fanos Joanna H.,
Korty Lauren,
Siskind Carly E.,
HansonKahn Andrea K.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of genetic counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1573-3599
pISSN - 1059-7700
DOI - 10.1007/s10897-016-9951-z
Subject(s) - young adult , genetic counseling , genetic testing , population , disease , predictive testing , medicine , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , psychology , educational attainment , gerontology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , pathology , genetics , environmental health , economics , biology , economic growth
Huntington disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant, progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no cure. Predictive testing for HD is available to asymptomatic at‐risk individuals. Approximately half of the population undergoing predictive testing for HD consists of young adults (≤35 years old). Finishing one's education, starting a career, engaging in romantic relationships and becoming a parent are key milestones of young adulthood. We conducted a qualitative study to explore how testing gene‐positive for HD influences young adults’ attainment of these milestones, and to identify major challenges that pre‐symptomatic young adults face to aid the development of targeted genetic counseling. Results of our study demonstrate that 1) knowing one's gene‐positive status results in an urgency to reach milestones and positively changes young adults’ approach to life; 2) testing positive influences young adults’ education and career choices, romantic relationships, and family planning; 3) young adults desire flexible and tailored genetic counseling to address needs and concerns unique to this population. Findings of this study contribute to the understanding of the impact of predictive testing for HD on young adults, and highlight issues unique to this population that call for further research, intervention and advocacy.