Interest in, willingness-to-pay for and willingness-to-recommend genetic testing for prostate cancer among affected men after radical prostatectomy

• DOI: 10.1007/s10689-018-0101-7
• Publication Date: 2018-09-18T04:25:30Z
• Authors: Marcel Mayer; Katharina Selig; Frank Tüttelmann; Andreas Dinkel; Jürgen E. Gschwend; Kathleen Herkommer
• Keywords: Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Male; Prostatectomy; Prostatic Neoplasms; Middle Aged; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Severity of Illness Index; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Patient Education as Topic; Socioeconomic Factors; Humans; Genetic Testing; Prospective Studies; Self Report; Health Expenditures; Medical History Taking; Aged

Knowledge about interest in genetic testing and willingness-to-pay for a genetic test among men affected from prostate cancer (PCa) is limited. This study aimed to gain insight into men's attitudes in genetic testing for PCa. 4699 men with PCa from the German multicenter prospective database "Familial Prostate Cancer" were included. Interest in, Willingness-to-pay for and Willingness-to-recommend a genetic test for PCa were quantified. Associations with several sociodemographic and psychosocial variables were evaluated by logistic regression. 76.8% of the affected men with a median follow-up of 12.9 years were interested in a genetic test for PCa. Newly identified variables significantly associated with interest were having sons (OR 1.66, p < 0.001) and a high perceived severity of the PCa (OR 1.40, p < 0.001). 19% of men were willing to pay more than 500 € for a genetic test. Men with higher education, men with a better self-reported economic situation and men with a lethal PCa in their family were more likely to be willing to pay a larger sum for a test. 84.9% of men were willing to recommend a test to their relatives. Interest in genetic testing for PCa among affected men was generally high with most men willing to recommend a test to their relatives. Various characteristics associated with interest and willingness-to-pay larger sums for genetic testing were uncovered and need to be addressed when designing both future educational material and genetic tests for PCa.