Women in the United States have the highest mortality rates from heart (cardiovascular) disease. High blood pressure (hypertension) is one of the significant risk factors for the development of heart disease and African American women are at the greatest risk for this disease. Genetic testing is used as a screening tool to help find markers to show if people are at risk for developing a disease. Patients could then make better health decisions, with the genetic testing outcome, to combat their chances of being affected by the disease. However, research shows that African Americans seldom utilize these services. Prior research of an African American focus group with a history of anxiety or depression showed that even though participants felt that genetic testing was valuable, they still feared the testing procedures and worried it could harm them.
The current study aims to evaluate the attitudes toward genetic testing for high blood pressure African American women and girls might have in regards to perceived benefits, awareness, and outcome of testing. The researchers conducted one-on-one in-person interviews in which they administered a modified attitudes toward genetic testing assessment to focus on perceived benefits and barriers of genetic testing and a demographic survey. The participants consisted of 183 African American women and girls, ranged between 12 to 93 years of age, from the Detroit Metropolitan area who participated in a previous study focusing on high blood pressure amongst three generations.
The results of the study showed that as the age and education level of a participant increased, so did her awareness of the benefits and outcomes of genetic testing. The researchers considered that this effect may be due to greater exposure to a number of circumstances of life experiences and education. Research shows that within African American families, the eldest women is generally the one who makes health care choices for the family as they are typically regarded as the matriarch. The current study showed that even though the daughter of the triad is most likely to be against testing, the granddaughter will conform to the grandmother’s decision to undergo the procedure.
Genetic testing should be gender appropriate and culturally suited in order for the proper intervention and management for specific at-risk populations. This study also shows that further investigation is needed in order to break down how exactly each of the subcategories of family, education and age-related factors affect the decision to undergo genetic testing.