Barriers and facilitators for cascade testing in genetic conditions: a systematic review

European Journal of Human Genetics volume 28, pages1631–1644(2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Cascade testing is the process of offering genetic counseling and testing to at-risk relatives of an individual who has been diagnosed with a genetic condition. It is critical for increasing the identification rates of individuals with these conditions and the uptake of appropriate preventive health services. The process of cascade testing is highly varied in clinical practice, and a comprehensive understanding of factors that hinder or enhance its implementation is necessary to improve this process. We conducted a systematic review to identify barriers and facilitators for cascade testing and searched PubMed, CINAHL via EBSCO, Web of Science, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for articles published from the databases’ inception to November 2018. Thirty articles met inclusion criteria. Barriers and facilitators identified from these studies at the individual-level were organized into the following categories: (1) demographics, (2) knowledge, (3) attitudes, beliefs, and emotional responses of the individual, and (4) perceptions of relatives, relatives’ responses, and attitudes toward relatives. At the interpersonal-level, barriers and facilitators were categorized as (1) family communication-, support- and dynamics-, and (2) provider-factors. Finally, barriers at the environmental-level relating to accessibility of genetic services were also identified. Our findings suggest that several individual, interpersonal and environmental factors may play a role in cascade testing. Future studies to further investigate these barriers and facilitators are needed to inform future interventions for improving the implementation of cascade testing for genetic conditions in clinical practice.

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Fig. 1: PRISMA flow diagram.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health through Grant KL2TR002490 to MCR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Affiliations

  1. Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Swetha Srinivasan & Megan C. Roberts

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Nae Yeon Won

  3. Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    W. David Dotson

  4. UNC Health Sciences Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Sarah T. Wright

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  1. Swetha Srinivasan
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Correspondence to Megan C. Roberts.

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Srinivasan, S., Won, N.Y., Dotson, W.D. et al. Barriers and facilitators for cascade testing in genetic conditions: a systematic review. Eur J Hum Genet 28, 1631–1644 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-020-00725-5

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