Study design:

The researchers looked at 1,062 women who had a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. The women were all patients at the University of Pennsylvania Health System from 1996 to 2003.

The researchers mailed all the women in the study a survey that was filled out at home and mailed back. The women were asked to report their:

• age,
• education,
• annual household income,
• race/ethnicity,
• religious heritage,
• family and personal history of breast and ovarian cancer,
• Ashkenazi Jewish heritage,
• perception of breast cancer risk,
• perception of ovarian cancer risk,
• level of worry about developing breast and/or ovarian cancer,
• attitudes about genetic testing,
• visits to their gynecologist and primary care doctor in the past year, and
• any discussion of BRCA1 and 2 testing during doctor visits.

The researchers wanted to see which women considered at high risk for breast or ovarian cancer received BRCA1 and BRCA2 test counseling. (Women who had already been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer were not included in the study.)

Information from 408 women was analyzed, of whom 217 had had genetic counseling for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 test. Because more than 90% of these women were either African American or white, the researchers decided to compare those two groups and exclude women from other racial or ethnic groups.