Portrayal of genetic risk for breast cancer in ethnic and non-ethnic newspapers.

Publisher: Routledge Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7608076 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0363-0242 (Print) Linking ISSN: 03630242 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Women Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Philadelphia : Routledge
Original Publication: Old Westbury, N. Y., Biological Sciences Program, State Univ. of New York, College at Old Westbury.

Bibliometrics*; Breast Neoplasms/*genetics ; Jews/*genetics ; Mass Media/*statistics & numerical data ; Newspapers as Topic/*statistics & numerical data ; Risk Assessment/*statistics & numerical data; Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology ; Canada ; Educational Status ; Female ; Genes, BRCA1 ; Genes, BRCA2 ; Humans ; Jews/statistics & numerical data ; Journalism, Medical/standards

There has been enormous attention paid to the genetics of breast cancer in this era of genomic medicine. A great deal of the interest has been generated through discourse in the public mass media. However, genetic risk is a probabilistic concept and one that requires adequate numeracy skills. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis was to describe and evaluate the portrayal of genetic risk for breast cancer in mass print media. Mass print newspapers targeting high (Ashkenazi Jews) and low (general Canadian population) genetic risk audiences and published at least monthly, available in English and accessible through public archives at the National Library of Canada, were identified and hand searched for articles on breast cancer. Approximately 47% of breast cancer articles in 6 Jewish newspapers and published between 1996-2000 identified genetics in the title, first or last paragraph compared with 17% of 145 articles in 6 provincial newspapers published in 2000. The description of breast cancer risk was equally problematic in print media targeting high and low risk audiences. Statistics were presented in complex and contradictory ways, with, for example, the confounding of individual and population based risk estimates. Inconsistent messages about the value of genetic screening for breast cancer characterized articles in both ethnic and non-ethnic newspapers. Deciphering the information into a comprehensible form is likely challenging, particularly in light of widespread numeric-literacy limitations. The publication of discrepant research findings and the perplexing statistical information consequently brought into question the credibility of the scientific process and the recommendations of health care professionals.

Date Created: 20050525 Date Completed: 20050805 Latest Revision: 20191109

20240628

10.1300/j013v40n04_06

15911512