Beliefs about Genetically Targeted Care in African Americans

We examined beliefs about genetically targeted care (GTC) among African American men and women in a hospital-based sample and identified sociodemographic, cultural, and clinical factors having significant independent associations with these beliefs. Specifically, beliefs about GTC were evaluated after respondents were randomly primed with a racial or non-racial cue about race and genetics. Despite priming with a racial or non-racial cue, many respondents had positive beliefs about GTC. But, 49% believed that GTC would limit access to medical treatment, 46% believed that people will not trust GTC, and 20% believed that people like them would not benefit from GTC. Racial and non-racial priming did not have significant associations with negative beliefs about GTC. However, cultural beliefs related to temporal orientation were associated significantly with believing that genetically targeted care will limit access to medical treatment. Greater levels of future temporal orientation were associated with a reduced likelihood of endorsing this belief (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.49, 1.01, p = 0.05). Respondents who had a chronic medical condition had an almost three-fold greater likelihood of believing that they would not benefit from GTC (OR = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.00, 8.37, p = 0.05). Greater exposure to information about genetic testing for chronic conditions was also associated with a reduced likelihood of believing that they would not benefit from GTC (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.64, 0.91, p = 0.02). African Americans have diverse beliefs about GTC that should be considered as genetic and genomic services are offered.