Young women perceptions towards genetic testing of breast cancer
The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of young women towards genetic testing for breast cancer.
An in-depth interview was conducted among 26 young women who were chosen randomly from the Faculty of Health
and Life Sciences (FHLS), Management and Science University (MSU), Shah Alam, Malaysia. Writing the answers
of the participants was used with participant permission to make notes about her answer and the interview took
approximately 40–60 minutes. The majority of the study participants (85%) knew about the genetic test of breast
cancer. Regarding the source of the information, 8 (30.8%) reported that they knew about the genetic test of breast
cancer from the internet, followed by 7 (26.9%) from lecturer, 4 (15.4%) from textbooks, 3 (11.5%) from newspapers,
2 (7.6%) from magazines, and 1 (3.8%) from her friend. Most of the participants 23 (88.5%) mentioned that they would
introduce the genetic test of the breast cancer to their familes and friends. However, 3 (11.5%) mentioned that they
would not recommend breast cancer genetic test to their families and friends. In conclusion, majority of participants
knew about the genetic test of breast cancer. The majority of the young women were willing to perform breast cancer
genetic test because they were concerned about their health, considering the genetic test of the breast cancer as
a prevention measure, positive family history of breast cancer and for early detection. About quarter of participants
reported that they would not perform any genetic test in the future because of the cost of the test, no family history of
breast cancer, knowing the future diseases would make the life miserable, impact of the genetic test on quality of life,
and the test had not been recognized yet.
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