Proband family uptake of familial-genetic counselling

Familial-genetic counselling for breast/ovarian cancers is a process initia ted by a proband, and designed for all her/his blood relatives. This study focused on family members' uptake of an invitation to participate in counse lling as a function of proband and family determinants. Of 163 breast/ovari an syndrome families tested, 67 carrying one of the three known Jewish muta tions were included. For both the proband and family members, demographic v ariables, cancer status, position in the family and type of referral (proba nd only) were examined. Eligible family members' uptake rate was 34%. Lower family uptake was associated with the proband having cancer, and/or being doctor-referred (vs self-referred. Individuals of either the proband's or o lder generations had lower uptake rates compared with family members of you nger generations. Being a cancer patient or a first degree relative of eith er a cancer patient or the proband was related to higher uptake. The study results indicate that baseline information routinely gathered by counsellin g services can be useful in predicting uptake. Providing insight into compl ex barriers to genetic counselling, these results also suggest potential di rections for interventions to improve uptake, thereby enhancing individuals ' abilities to make informed decisions regarding issues such as genetic tes ting. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.