Table 2.

Effects of different educational approaches for genetic information related to breast and ovarian cancer risk on cognitive, affective and behavioral intention outcomes.

Study	Experimental design	Sample	Major results
Bowen et al. (2004)⁵⁹	Randomized. GC vs. psychosocial counseling vs. control group	354 women with breast cancer family history, not consistent with BRCA mutation	Participants in both counseling groups had lower perceived risk at follow up compared to controls (p<.01)
			Cancer worry decreased in both counseling groups (p<.05)
Calzone et al. (2005)⁶⁰	Randomized. Group vs. individual pre-test education session	142 patients at high risk for carrying BRCA mutation	No significant differences in knowledge or distress between groups
Green et al. (2004)⁶¹	Randomized. Standard one- on-one GC vs. computer- based educational program and GC	211 women with personal or family histories of breast cancer	Mean increase in knowledge significantly higher in computer group among low-risk women (p=.03) but not high-risk women
			Reduction in perceived risk greatest among low-risk women in counselor group (p<.001)
Lerman et al. (1997)⁶²	Randomized. Education vs. education and non-directive psychosocial counseling vs. control	400 women at low to moderate risk with family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer	Significant increases in knowledge in both intervention groups (p<.001)
			Significant increases in perceived limitations and risks of testing among counseling group (p<.01)
			No difference in testing intentions between groups
Lobb et al. (2002)⁶³	Randomized. Received or not an audiotape of pre testing GC session	193 unaffected and affected women from high risk breast cancer families	Risk perception less accurate in audiotape group among unaffected women (p=0.05)
			Women in intervention group who listened to the audiotape had greater reductions in anxiety (p=.02) and depression (p=.01)
Mancini et al. (2006)⁶⁴	Non-randomized. Standard patient information booklet vs. no booklet	560 affected women considering BRCA1/2 testing	Booklet group had greater knowledge (p=.001) and satisfaction with information provided (p=.001)
			Women in booklet group had stronger testing intentions (p=.009)
Miller et al. (2005)⁶⁵	Randomized. Enhanced counseling vs. general health information session following standard GC	77 high-risk women undergoing BRCA1/2 testing	At 6 months, information seeking about prophylactic oophorectomy higher in enhanced counseling group (p=.04)
			At 6 months, 28% of those in enhanced counseling group had undergone prophylactic oophorectomy, compared to 6% of controls (p=.03)
Skinner et al. (2002)⁶⁶	Randomized. Tailored vs. non-tailored print materials	325 women considering BRCA1/2 testing with personal and family histories of breast and/or ovarian cancer	Those in tailored materials group had significantly greater improvement in knowledge (p<.0001) and less over-estimation of risk of being a mutation carrier (p<.0001)
			No significant differences between groups in anxiety or expectations about testing
van Roosmalen et al. (2004)⁶⁷	Randomized. Received decision aid or control group	368 affected and unaffected women being tested for a BRCA mutation	Decision aid group more frequently considered prophylactic surgery at 4 weeks (p=.02)
			Decision aid group had more accurate risk perceptions and felt better informed (p<.01)
			No differences between groups for anxiety, depression, cancer distress
Wakefield et al. (2008)⁶⁸	Randomized. Decision aid or control pamphlet in pre testing GC session	148 affected and unaffected women considering BRCA testing	Decision aid group felt more informed (p=.003) and had higher knowledge levels (p<.05)
Wang et al. (2005)⁶⁹	2×2 factorial design. CD- ROM program for patients; feedback checklist for genetic counselor	197 women attending BRCA counseling	Patients who viewed CD-ROM significantly less likely to undergo genetic testing (33% vs. 47%; OR=0.63; 95% CI: 0.45–0.89)
			Feedback group had greater increases in knowledge (p<.05)
			Among those less worried at baseline, the CD-ROM group had no increase in worry over time, others had increase in worry (p<.005)
Watson et al. (1998)⁷⁰	Randomized. Audiotape vs. standard consultation	115 women with family history of breast cancer	Worry decreased in audiotape condition (p=.002)
			Audiotape had no effect on recall of genetic risk estimate

GC=genetic counseling