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Current Approaches to Cancer Genetic Counseling Services for Spanish-Speaking Patients

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Abstract

Barriers to genetic counseling services (GCS) utilization for Spanish-speaking patients (SSP) may include language barriers and limited availability of bilingual genetic counselors (GCs). The sample included GCs who: (1) practice cancer genetic counseling, (2) report a cancer practice setting, and (3) have a US mailing address. We assessed: (1) number of Spanish-speaking GCs, (2) estimated proportion of Hispanic patients, and (3) approaches used to counsel SSP. Of respondents (n = 229), 10% (n = 23) spoke Spanish. A higher proportion of GCs practicing in states with ≥ 25% Hispanics reported speaking Spanish compared to those in states with lower Hispanic populations (p = 0.02). While there was a significantly higher percentage of Spanish-speaking GCs in states with larger Hispanic populations, the absolute number was low and unlikely to meet the needs of patients. There is need to increase availability of GCS for SSPs and to understand the impact of services on patient health outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Breast Cancer Spore CA 116201 and in part by the Survey Methods Core Facility at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; a National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center (P30-CA76292).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Population Science, Moffitt Cancer Center, 12902 Magnolia Drive, MFC-CRISP, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA

    Bianca Augusto, Monica L. Kasting & Susan T. Vadaparampil

  2. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Fergus J. Couch

  3. Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

    Noralane M. Lindor

Authors
  1. Bianca Augusto
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  2. Monica L. Kasting
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  3. Fergus J. Couch
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  4. Noralane M. Lindor
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  5. Susan T. Vadaparampil
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan T. Vadaparampil.

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Conflict of interest

Author Vadaparampil has a research grant from Myriad Genetics Laboratories. Authors Augusto, Lindor, and Couch declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

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Augusto, B., Kasting, M.L., Couch, F.J. et al. Current Approaches to Cancer Genetic Counseling Services for Spanish-Speaking Patients. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 434–437 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0772-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0772-z

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