Advocacy and Compliance in Genetic Screening

Abstract

The relation between advocacy and compliance was evaluated in a voluntary testing program to identify carriers of the Tay—Sachs gene among 30,000 eligible subjects. The overall compliance rate was 9.8 per cent, and among subgroups of clients it was 27.6 per cent in final-year high-school students, 20 per cent in college students, 10.8 per cent in newlyweds, and 8.1 per cent in "random" eligible adults. Poor specific knowledge and lack of motivation, despite equivalent exposure to the screening option, greatly influenced the nonparticipant group by comparison with compliant subjects.