No Evidence of False Reassurance among Women with an Inconclusive BRCA1/2 Genetic Test Result

DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-05-0512 Published December 2005

Article Figures & Data

Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
Figure 1.
Lifetime cancer risk perception at pretest and 1 month post-disclosure according to BRCA1/2 test result. *, P values adjusted for age (20-49, 50-69, 70+ years), cancer status, genetic testing approach, and cancer susceptibility testing knowledge.

Table 1.

Socio-demographic, disease, and psychosocial characteristics of participants at pretest education session according to BRCA1/2 test result

Characteristics	Carriers (n = 105)	Noncarriers (n = 140)	Inconclusive (n = 255)
Characteristics		n* (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Age at pretest (y)
20-49	55 (52)	78 (56)	82 (32)
50-69	49 (47)	56 (40)	154 (60)
≥70	1 (1)	6 (4)	19 (7)
Mean ± SD	48.0 ± 11.5	48.0 ± 13.2	54.3 ± 10.5
Education (y)
≤12	54 (52)	79 (56)	109 (43)
>12	49 (48)	61 (44)	144 (57)
Mean ± SD	12.8 ± 3.7	12.4 ± 3.5	13.2 ± 3.7
Living with a spouse
Yes	76 (75)	100 (73)	181 (72)
No	25 (25)	37 (27)	70 (28)
Has children
Yes	79 (77)	113 (83)	202 (81)
No	23 (23)	23 (17)	48 (19)
Cancer status
Affected	68 (65)	19 (14)	121 (48)
Not affected	37 (35)	121 (86)	134 (52)
Genetic testing
Full sequencing	6 (6)	1 (1)	77 (30)
Common mutations	99 (94)	139 (99)	178 (70)
Tested to be reassured
Not at all	23 (23)	24 (17)	73 (30)
A little	16 (16)	15 (11)	55 (22)
Moderately	21 (21)	40 (29)	46 (19)
A lot	40 (40)	61 (44)	73 (30)
Cancer susceptibility testing knowledge scores
Mean ± SD	61.7 ± 15.1	58.3 ± 16.6	56.8 ± 21.0
Pretest lifetime cancer risk perception
Mean ± SD	48.2 ± 26.9	39.9 ± 24.2	40.4 ± 21.8

↵* Because of missing data, the number of participants does not always add to the total.

Table 2.

Reassurance outcomes 1 month post-disclosure according to genetic test results

Outcomes	Carriers (a)	Noncarriers (b)	Inconclusive (c)	P*	Group differences^†
Outcomes		n (%)	n (%)	P*	Group differences^†	n (%)
Cancer risk
Very low	2 (3)	13 (10)	19 (9)	<0.0001	a > b; a > c; b < c
Low	4 (5)	33 (26)	32 (15)
Moderate	23 (30)	62 (50)	91 (44)
High	27 (35)	16 (13)	52 (25)
Very high	21 (27)	1 (1)	13 (6)
Lifetime cancer risk perception (%)
Mean ± SD	53.4 ± 23.4	30.4 ± 21.8	38.0 ± 24.1	<0.0001	a > b; a > c; b < c
Cancer worry
A lot less than before	1 (1)	52 (42)	46 (22)	<0.0001	a > b; a > c; b < c
A little less than before	3 (4)	28 (22)	37 (17)
Neither more nor less	49 (62)	44 (35)	127 (60)
A little more than before	21 (27)	1 (1)	3 (1)
A lot more than before	5 (6)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Relief
Not at all	48 (50)	5 (4)	40 (17)	<0.0001	a < b; b > c
Low	6 (6)	21 (16)	54 (22)
Moderate	22 (23)	30 (23)	61 (25)
Considerable	20 (21)	73 (57)	86 (36)
Painfulness
Not painful at all	43 (44)	120 (94)	220 (91)	<0.0001	a > b; a > c
Slightly painful	31 (32)	3 (2)	16 (7)
Moderately painful	18 (19)	5 (4)	5 (2)
Very painful	5 (5)	0 (0)	2 (1)
Quality of life
Decreased a lot	0 (0)	0 (0)	2 (1)	0.0019	a < b; b > c
Slightly decreased	8 (8)	0 (0)	0 (0)
The same	79 (81)	99 (78)	207 (85)
Slightly improved	8 (8)	9 (7)	20 (8)
Improved a lot	2 (2)	19 (15)	15 (6)

↵* Adjusted for age (20-49, 50-69, and 70+ y), cancer status, genetic testing approach, and cancer susceptibility testing knowledge scores.
↵† Based on adjusted analyses; P < 0.01.