Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a serious mood disorder that affects about 1% of the population of the United States. Twin, family, and adoption studies have shown evidence for a genetic component of BPD, but monozygotic twin concordance is less than one, indicating that BPD is a mulitfactorial disorder. First-degree relatives of an individual with BPD have approximately a 3-15% risk of developing BPD because of shared genes and environment. No strong genetic susceptibility loci for BPD have been located, although some regions of interest are currently being evaluated. With increasing genetic information, it is expected that demand for genetic counseling for BPD and other psychiatric disorders will increase. This project is relevant to public health because BPD is a common disorder with a significant disease burden. Understanding the needs and concerns of the patient population can help tailor care and reduce the burden of the disease.
Using anonymous surveys and a semi-structured interview for individuals with BPD and their first-degree relatives, the knowledge, opinions, and acceptance of genetic counseling in this population have been studied. The Health Belief Model was used to assess current health beliefs relating to BPD. Additionally, using a brief educational session, the effect of education on knowledge and health beliefs was assessed.
Preliminary data show that the perceived severity of BPD, susceptibility to BPD, and perceived benefit of genetic information were high at 4.33, 4.45, and 4.36 out of 5, respectively, while the cumulative perceived barriers to testing were moderate to high at 3.09 out of 5. Preliminary data also show that the knowledge of BPD in affected individuals is high at 7 (±1.15) out of 8.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04132007-133016 |
| Date | 28 June 2007 |
| Creators | James, Emily M. |
| Contributors | Vishwajit Nimgaonkar, MD, PhD, Robin E. Grubs, Phd, CGC, Elizabeth Gettig, MS, CGC |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04132007-133016/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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