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Genetic susceptibility testing for chronic disease and intention for behavior change in healthy young adults

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Abstract

Genetic testing for chronic disease susceptibility may motivate young adults for preventive behavior change. This nationally representative survey gave 521 young adults hypothetical scenarios of receiving genetic susceptibility results for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke and asked their (1) interest in such testing, (2) anticipated likelihood of improving diet and physical activity with high- and low-risk test results, and (3) readiness to make behavior change. Responses were analyzed by presence of established disease-risk factors. Respondents with high phenotypic diabetes risk reported increased likelihood of improving their diet and physical activity in response to high-risk results compared with those with low diabetes risk (odds ratio (OR), 1.82 (1.03, 3.21) for diet and OR, 2.64 (1.24, 5.64) for physical activity). In contrast, poor baseline diet (OR, 0.51 (0.27, 0.99)) and poor physical activity (OR, 0.53 (0.29, 0.99)) were associated with decreased likelihood of improving diet. Knowledge of genetic susceptibility may motivate young adults with higher personal diabetes risk for improvement in diet and exercise, but poor baseline behaviors are associated with decreased intention to make these changes. To be effective, genetic risk testing in young adults may need to be coupled with other strategies to enable behavior change.

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Acknowledgments

JLV is supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Research Service Award grant T32 HP12706 from the Health Resources and Services Administration and the by NIH Loan Repayment Program (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)). RWG was supported by NIDDK R21DK084527: Using Genetic Risk Information to Enhance Diabetes Prevention. RCG was supported by R01HG02213, U01HG006500, K24AG027841, and R01HG005092. MFH is supported as a Research Scholar by the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec and as a Clinical Scientist by the Canadian Diabetes Association. This work was presented at the Society for General Internal Medicine national meeting in Orlando, FL, May 2012.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of General Internal Medicine, VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 Huntington Avenue, Bldg 9, Ste 425, Boston, MA, 02130, USA

    Jason L. Vassy

  2. Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Jason L. Vassy

  3. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Jason L. Vassy, Karen Donelan & Robert C. Green

  4. Mongan Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Karen Donelan

  5. Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

    Marie-France Hivert

  6. Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA

    Robert C. Green

  7. Partners HealthCare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert C. Green

  8. Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA

    Richard W. Grant

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  1. Jason L. Vassy
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  2. Karen Donelan
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  3. Marie-France Hivert
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Correspondence to Jason L. Vassy.

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Vassy, J.L., Donelan, K., Hivert, MF. et al. Genetic susceptibility testing for chronic disease and intention for behavior change in healthy young adults. J Community Genet 4, 263–271 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-013-0140-6

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