Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was to develop and evaluate the clinical utility of the breast and ovarian cancer genetic counselling program specific for 20 Korean women(KBOCGP).
METHODS
The KBOCGP was developed using three types of approaches: an ethnography among Korean women who underwent BRCA1/2 test, designing and implementing one week clinical genetic educational course for clinical cancer nurses, educational observation visits to three American cancer genetic counselling programs. And then pre-experimental design was implicated to evaluate the change of the women's knowledge about the hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and the level of the satisfaction with genetic counselling.
RESULTS
The mean score of the knowledge has significantly increased from 7.45 +/- 3.86 to 11.55 +/- 2.21(t = 5.63, p < .001). The level of the satisfaction with the counselling was very high (27.47 +/- 1.35). Because most of the subjects have young kids, they showed strong concerns about their kids' getting cancer.
CONCLUSION
This new KBOCGP is the satisfactory program for the education and communication of the genetic information to the Korean women with HBOC. But it is needed more to strengthen the cultural sensitivity especially to Korean family relationships. Authors recommend that this program be provided by other nurses who are counselling women at high risk of breast cancer.

• Keywords: Knowledge; Hereditary disease; Breast cancer; Genetic counseling; Personal satisfaction