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Student-Athletes’ Views on APOE Genotyping for Increased Risk of Poor Recovery after a Traumatic Brain Injury

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Genetic Counseling

Abstract

Use of apolipoprotein E genotyping to personalize the risk of a poor recovery after traumatic brain injury is complicated by the potential for genetic discrimination and the potential to reveal an increased risk for late onset Alzheimer’s disease. We developed a survey to gauge interest in testing among athletes participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association programs. Eight hundred and forty seven student-athletes were surveyed to determine their interest in genetic testing, their willingness to share the results of testing with parents, coaches and physicians, their concerns about privacy and/or discrimination, and their interest in genetic counseling. Nearly three quarters of respondents expressed some level of interest in testing, with the largest number describing themselves as ‘possibly interested’ (54.9 %, n = 463) and a smaller number describing themselves as ‘very interested’ (18.9 %, n = 159). Most student-athletes said that receiving secondary information about their risk for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease made them more likely to test (50.6 %, n = 426) rather than less likely to test (12.4 %, n = 104). Student-athletes were open to apolipoprotein E genotyping and willing to share test results with their parents, coaches and physicians. They did not anticipate that test results would impact their behavior or ability to play. Testing programs may be welcome but should provide clear information as to risks and benefits.

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Acknowledgments

We would like the thank Mike Smith for his valuable assistance with data analysis and Jehannine Austin for her excellent advice. We gratefully acknowledge the Sarah Lawrence College Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics for providing services and funding in support of our participant recruitment process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sarah Lawrence College Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics, 1 Mead Way, Bronxville, NY, 10708, USA

    Laura S. Hercher & Michelle Caudle

  2. Weisskopf Child Evaluation Center, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Julie Griffin

  3. Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Matthew Herzog

  4. Medical Genetics Unit, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Diana Matviychuk

  5. Cancer Risk and Prevention Program, MemorialCare Cancer Institute at MemorialCare Health System, Laguna Hills, CA, USA

    Jenna Tidwell

Authors
  1. Laura S. Hercher
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  2. Michelle Caudle
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  3. Julie Griffin
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  4. Matthew Herzog
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  5. Diana Matviychuk
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  6. Jenna Tidwell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura S. Hercher.

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Conflict of Interest

Laura Hercher, Michelle Caudle, Julie Griffin, Matthew Herzog, Diana Matviychuk and Jenna Tidwell have no conflict of interest to declare.

Research Involving Human Subjects

All procedures for this study were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. This study was approved by the Julia Dyckman Memorial Institutional Review Board on September 4, 2014.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained for all participants included in this study.

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Hercher, L.S., Caudle, M., Griffin, J. et al. Student-Athletes’ Views on APOE Genotyping for Increased Risk of Poor Recovery after a Traumatic Brain Injury. J Genet Counsel 25, 1267–1275 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-016-9965-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-016-9965-6

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