Barriers to the use of genetic testing: A study of racial and ethnic disparities

• Published in: Genetics in medicine Vol. 11; no. 9; pp. 655 - 662
• Main Authors: Suther, Sandra, Kiros, Gebre-Egziabher
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01-09-2009
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Black or African American; Black People - education; Female; Genetic Testing - economics; Genetic Testing - statistics & numerical data; Health Services Accessibility; Healthcare Disparities; Hispanic or Latino - education; Human Genetics; Humans; Laboratory Medicine; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Education as Topic; United States; White People - education; Young Adult; United States; health disparity; barriers; race; ethnicity; genetic testing
• ISSN: 1098-3600; 1530-0366; 1530-0366
• DOI: 10.1097/GIM.0b013e3181ab22aa

Purpose: Racial and ethnic disparities in health are evident among a range of diseases and health care services. New genetic technologies are likely to increase these disparities as access to expensive genetic tests further widens the gap.
Methods: Our analysis used data from a national representative sample collected in 2000. The total sample size for our analysis was 1724 men and women (consisting of 946 non-Hispanic whites, 392 Latinos, and 386 blacks) aged 18 to 91 years. Ordered logistic regression and binary logistic regression analysis were applied to investigate differences by race/ethnicity.
Results: Results showed significant differences by racial/ethnic groups in knowledge and concerns about the potential misuse of genetic testing. A significant difference was also found between the types of health insurance coverage by race/ethnicity as well as significantly higher levels of mistrust in a physician and the medical system.
Conclusion: Our findings raise concern about several barriers among minorities and calls for a development of educational and communication strategies that facilitate in narrowing the gap between racial and ethnic groups.