Multiple dimensions of mistrust to genetic testing: The effects of race, gender, and education

Identifying key barriers to health seeking behavior is one of the major challenges for epidemiologists and social scientists. As new predictive genetic tests become more available, there is a concern that the already evident racial and ethnic disparities in health may even get wider. In this study we investigate and compare the multiple dimensions of mistrust about genetic testing by race/ethnicity, gender, and education by using a recent national representative data. The data used was collected in the year 2000 by the University of Maryland College Park Survey Research Center to study racial and ethnic disparities in knowledge and concerns about genetic testing. The sample size for this analysis is 1,763 (consists of 960 non-Hispanic Whites, 403 Latinos and 400 Blacks). This study creates and validates a mistrust index about genetic testing from eight questions and uses ordered logistic regression to examine the effects of race/ethnicity, gender, and education. The results show significant differences by race, gender, and educational level. Both Blacks and Latinos have significantly higher levels of mistrust in genetic testing than do whites (Blacks OR=1.66 with 95% CI 1.28, 2.15 and for Latinos OR= 1.58 with 95% CI 1.21, 2.07). Men have significantly lower mistrust compared to women (OR=0.79, 95% CI 0.65, 0.97). In addition, college education or higher significantly decreases the level of mistrust (OR=0.63, 95% CI 0.49, 0.82). Our findings indicate the importance of targeted education and better communication at multiple levels to address the several dimensions of mistrust about genetic testing.