Awareness of Cancer Susceptibility Genetic Testing: The 2000, 2005, and 2010 National Health Interview Surveys

BackgroundGenetic testing for several cancer susceptibility syndromes is clinically available; however, existing data suggest limited population awareness of such tests.PurposeTo examine awareness regarding cancer genetic testing in the U.S. population aged ≥25 years in the 2000, 2005, and 2010 National Health Interview Surveys.MethodsThe weighted percentages of respondents aware of cancer genetic tests, and percent changes from 2000–2005 and 2005–2010, overall and by demographic, family history, and healthcare factors were calculated. Interactions were used to evaluate the patterns of change in awareness between 2005 and 2010 among subgroups within each factor. To evaluate associations with awareness in 2005 and 2010, percentages were adjusted for covariates using multiple logistic regression. The analysis was performed in 2012.ResultsAwareness decreased from 44.4% to 41.5% (p<0.001) between 2000 and 2005, and increased to 47.0% (p<0.001) in 2010. Awareness increased between 2005 and 2010 in most subgroups, particularly among individuals in the South (pinteraction=0.03) or with a usual place of care (pinteraction=0.01). In 2005 and 2010, awareness was positively associated with personal or family cancer history and high perceived cancer risk, and inversely associated with racial/ethnic minorities, age 25−39 or ≥60 years, male gender, lower education and income levels, public or no health insurance, and no provider contact in 12 months.ConclusionsDespite improvement from 2005 to 2010, ≤50% of the U.S. adult population was aware of cancer genetic testing in 2010. Notably, disparities persist for racial/ethnic minorities and individuals with limited health care access or income.