Psychological Distress and Coping Ability of Women at High Risk of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer before Undergoing Genetic Counseling-An Exploratory Study from Germany.

ABSTRACT: Carriers of pathogenic variants causing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) are confronted with a high risk to develop malignancies early in life. The present study aimed to determine the type of psychological distress and coping ability in women with a suspicion of HBOC. In particular, we were interested if the self-assessed genetic risk had an influence on health concerns and coping ability. Using a questionnaire established by the German HBOC Consortium, we investigated 255 women with breast cancer and 161 healthy women before they were seen for genetic counseling. The group of healthy women was divided into groups of high and low self-assessed risk. In our study, healthy women with a high self-assessed risk stated the highest stress level and worries about their health and futu

SUBMITTER: Vajen B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8073852 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature