NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Direct-to-consumer marketing implemented in two US cities appears to have raised awareness about genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer (BOC) susceptibility, new research suggests.
However, the results indicate that health care providers often lacked knowledge to counsel patients about such testing.
Although direct-to-consumer marketing has been used to increase consumer awareness about medications, this is the first time that this advertising method has been applied to a genetic test, study co-author Dr. Melanie F. Myers, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, told Reuters Health.
“One concern with population-based marketing like this, and what we found, is that providers aren’t prepared to deal with all the complexities of the test or answer all the questions asked,” Dr. Myers said.
“Another concern is that there is very limited regulation of advertising for genetic tests, which means that they can be marketed before we know if they’re good tests or not,” Dr. Myers noted. “Even if they are good tests, with mass marketing, you always run the risk that the wrong people go and ask for testing.”
Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc., the only US provider of clinical BRCA1/2 testing, initiated the multi-media advertising campaign, which took place in Atlanta and Denver from 2002 to 2003. In the current study, the CDC and state health officials surveyed consumers and clinicians in those cities about such testing and compared their responses to subjects in two comparison cities not exposed to the campaign.
The findings appear in the July 16th issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Compared with control consumers, consumers in the pilot cities were more likely to report awareness of a BOC susceptibility test called BRCA. In addition, such consumers were more likely to report exposure to related advertising in the last 6 months (p < 0.05 for both).
Healthcare providers in the pilot cities were more likely than control providers to report direct exposure to test marketing as well as an encounter with a patient exposed to such marketing. Moreover, such providers were more likely to report increases in questions about testing, requests for referrals, requests for tests, and in number of tests ordered (p < 0.05 for all).
Despite being asked about BRCA testing more often, the results indicate that pilot-city providers were no more knowledgeable about the subject than control providers. Also, knowledge about BRCA1/2 was often lacking -- just 52% of providers knew that such mutations could be inherited from either parent and only 46% knew that having a sister with a BRCA1 mutation conferred a 50% risk of the same mutation in the index subject.
“Public health definitely has a role in educating and preparing consumers and providers to better respond to the complexities of genetic testing,” Dr. Myers said. “Also, we need more studies on the benefits and limitations of genetic testing.”
Source: MMWR 2004;53:603-606. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Advertising: Breast Neoplasms: Communication: Community Health Services: Consumer Organizations: Consumer Participation: Data Collection: Diagnosis: Diagnostic Services: Health Care Economics and Organizations: Environment and Public Health: Epidemiologic Methods: Health Care Facilities, Manpower, and Services: Genetic Screening: Health: Health Occupations: Health Services: Health Services Administration: Health Surveys: Information Science: Mass Screening: Medicine: Investigative Techniques: Neoplasms: Neoplasms by Site: Organizations: Population Characteristics: Preventive Health Services: Preventive Medicine: Public Health: Quality of Health Care: Specialties, Medical: Public Health Practice: Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation: Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms: Genes, BRCA1: Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment: Biological Sciences: Diseases: Health Care: Information ScienceCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
