Genetic risk and behavioural change

Marteau, Theresa

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7293.1056

Cited by 313 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

205

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…They had taken precautions during flights but had not otherwise changed their lifestyle. These findings suggests that, in the case of thrombophilia, hopes that testing for genetic susceptibilities will motivate people to change their lifestyle may be exaggerated, and similar findings have been reported in relation to other conditions (Marteau & Lerman, 2001). However, the findings also indicate that testing for genetic susceptibility to deep vein thrombosis does not generally lead to a medicalisation or geneticization of everyday life (Lippman, 1998, Melzer & Zimmern, 2002, Petersen & Bunton, 2002.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 68%

“…The preventive strategies the participants chose suggest that they used genetic information to effectuate limited changes in their lives, such as decide about medications or take precautions during flights. The fact that participants did not change their lifestyle is disencouraging against the hope that genetic susceptibilities would encourage smoking cessation or healthier diet and exercise, and other studies have reported similar disencouraging findings (see Marteau & Lerman, 2001, McBride et al 2002. However, participants' accounts of prevention are encouraging against the fears that testing for genetic susceptibilities will lead people to live a medicalized life focused, in a nearly neurotic fashion, on risk prevention (Lippmann, 1998, Novas & Rose, 2000, Petersen & Bunton, 2002.…”

Section: Yes [I Would Like To Know If There Is a Risk In My Family] mentioning

confidence: 86%

“…It has generally been observed that individuals have a multifactorial understanding of familial risk of heart disease and cancer (Walter et al 2004). Efforts to use genetic susceptibility testing to encourage behaviour change have, however, produced mixed results; it has not been found to significantly motivate smoking cessation (Lerman et al, 1997;McBride et al, 2003), its effect on adherence to screening (mammography, colonoscopy) has been contradictory (Marteau & Lerman, 2001), but individuals have been found to undertake simple venesection (letting of blood) to prevent iron overload in hemochromatosis (Meiser et al 2005). It has also been suggested that people may strive for symmetry between a perceived cause and a perceived effective treatment and be more prone to believe that a genetic risk is more amenable to biological treatment (medications) than lifestyle change (Marteau & Weinman, in press).…”

Section: Perceptions Of Genetic Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Are genetic tests exceptional? Lessons from a qualitative study on thrombophilia

Saukko

Richards

Shepherd

et al. 2006

Social Science & Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Policy makers have suggested that information about genetic risk factors, which are associated with low risk and for which preventive strategies exist, should not be considered "exceptional" and should not warrant special safeguards, such as data protection or specialist pre-test counselling. There is scant research on how such risk factors are perceived, and to explore this we conducted qualitative interviews with fortytwo participants, who had undergone testing for a low risk genetic susceptibility to deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Generally the participants thought the test was less serious than a genetic test for a predisposition to breast cancer or a non-genetic, diagnostic test for diabetes. They had used the genetic information to reduce their risk of DVTs by avoiding oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy but had not changed their lifestyle.Many participants considered pre-test genetic counselling unnecessary. However, a subgroup of participants, who were often less educated or at a high risk, were distressed and/or confused about thrombophilia and thought pre-test counselling would have been helpful. The findings indicate an emerging interpretation of genetics not as revealing exceptional or "in depth" knowledge about one's health and identity but as occasionally relevant surface information, which participants used to make specific health decisions

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Yes [I Would Like To Know If There Is a Risk In My Family] mentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Perceptions Of Genetic Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Are genetic tests exceptional? Lessons from a qualitative study on thrombophilia

Saukko

Richards

Shepherd

et al. 2006

Social Science & Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One part considered them beneficial, as they lead to prevention. This idea is supported by studies that show there may be little increase in anxiety and behavioral changes in people with positive results in genetic tests (Delatycki et al 2005), but that these changes are difficult and more likely in people who receive other types of guidance, in addition to test results (Marteau and Lerman 2001;Botkin et al 2003;Weiner 2009). However, some may have an opposite behavior, once they believe in genetic determinism and feel less responsible for their own health.…”

Section: The New Geneticsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Conceptions on genetics in a group of college students

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this study was to investigate awareness, beliefs, and opinions on genetics in a group of Brazilian college students from several courses. The study used the focus group technique with the participation of 19 students, divided into four groups. Also, it used the isotopic reading technique to analyze the material. The results were divided in four themes: the basic knowledge of genetics, the "new genetics," including molecular biology and testing, genetic manipulation, and genetics and the media. The participants showed reasonable knowledge on the subject, obtained from various sources, including the printed press, the internet, documentaries, and fictional TV shows. Ethical issues were discussed comprehensively and the groups showed awareness on the hazards brought by genetic reductionism and the need to have some type of regulation regarding genetic manipulation and testing. It is necessary to broaden the debate about the progress in genetics because some of them will affect a significant number of people. This debate should include the lay public, which has been actively participating in decisions involving research and the use of new technologies.

show abstract

“…This view has been challenged by authors who are more skeptical about the power of genetic information to increase patient compliance. Marteau and Lerman (2001) reviewed evidence concerning behavioral responses to genetic information on risk and came to the conclusion that knowledge of DNA-derived information about health risks does not increase motivation to change behavior beyond that achieved with nongenetic information. In a critical review by McBride et al (2010) on the behavioral response to personalized genetic information, genetic information with low numerical risk was observed to have little impact on behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patient compliance based on genetic medicine: a literature review

Schneider

Schmidtke

2013

J Community Genet

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For this literature review, medical literature data bases were searched for studies on patient compliance after genetic risk assessment. The review focused on conditions where secondary or tertiary preventive options exist, namely cancer syndromes (BRCA-related cancer, HNPCC/colon cancer), hemochromatosis, thrombophilia, smoking cessation, and obesity. As a counterpart, patient compliance was assessed regarding medication adherence and medical advice in some of the most epidemiologically important conditions (including high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, and coronary heart disease) after receiving medical advice based on nongenetic risk information or a combination of genetic and nongenetic risk information. In the majority of studies based on genetic risk assessments, patients were confronted with predictive rather than diagnostic genetic profiles. Most of the studies started from a knowledge base around 10 years ago when DNA testing was at an early stage, limited in scope and specificity, and costly. The major result is that overall compliance of patients after receiving a high-risk estimate from genetic testing for a given condition is high. However, significant behavior change does not take place just because the analyte is "genetic." Many more factors play a role in the complex process of behavioral tuning. Without adequate counseling and guidance, patients may interpret risk estimates of predictive genetic testing with an increase in fear and anxiety.

show abstract

Genetic risk and behavioural change

Cited by 313 publications

References 39 publications

Are genetic tests exceptional? Lessons from a qualitative study on thrombophilia

Are genetic tests exceptional? Lessons from a qualitative study on thrombophilia

Conceptions on genetics in a group of college students

Patient compliance based on genetic medicine: a literature review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About