General public's knowledge, interest and information needs related to genetic cancer: an exploratory study

Single-group interviews were conducted with 49 people to get an idea of what and how the general public thinks about genetic cancer. Understanding what people think and need is crucial for adequate public health communication about genetic issues. Group discussions revealed that people believed that the vulnerability for cancer was largely dependent on their lifestyle, and that they were at risk if cancer ran in their family. Participants found it difficult to distinguish cancer from genetic cancer since in both cases the cause was related to cell problems. People felt that they lacked adequate knowledge of genetic cancer, which was also confirmed by the misconceptions revealed during the discussions. Participants mentioned both advantages (knowing one's risk, performing preventive actions, more openness, less taboo, and more knowledge) and disadvantages (fear arousal, difficult to time, undirected, tenability) of receiving genetic information. Although people felt ambivalent about wanting to receive genetic cancer information, as yet the general tendency seemed to be to postpone opening up to such information until there was a relevant case in the family. Subsequently, preferred information sources were family members and health professionals. According to the participants mass media should provide information on relevant features of genetic cancer to look out for. As yet, people showed little interest in biological genetic information. (C) 2005 Lippincott Williams Wilkins.