GENETIC-COUNSELING - INFORMATION GIVEN, RECALL AND SATISFACTION

The aims of this study are to categorise the key points given in genet ic counselling, assess the amount and type of information recalled, an d examine the relationships between counsellees' knowledge, satisfacti on with information received, the meeting of expectations, concern and anxiety. Because of the variety of consultations, a knowledge questio nnaire of the key points was constructed for each individual counselle e, with acceptable inter-rater reliability. The information items judg ed to be the key points in the consultations were assigned to 13 diffe rent content categories. Thirty-two counsellees were sent a questionna ire assessing knowledge and other outcomes two to four weeks after att ending a genetic counselling consultation. The mean percentage of key points recalled correctly was 76% (s.d. 17%), with 100% recall for fam ily issues and 68-78% recall for genetic or medical information. Knowl edge was not associated with satisfaction with information received no r with levels of concern or anxiety following genetic counselling. The se results suggest the importance of assessing multiple outcomes of ge netic counselling. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.