Notably, the numbers of African American women reported to have hypertension in several genetic studies have been high. However, there have not been any efforts targeted at examining the attitudes of these women towards genetic testing for the condition (Taylor, et al., 2013). From he foregoing therefore, this study was aimed at examining the attitudes of these women towards the probable benefits and barriers concerning genetic testing for the condition through the application of triads that focus on different generations. This study was done to determine if indeed, there are differences in terms of their levels of education, their income levels, their ages and the particular generations that they belong in.
Studies have been showing that cardiovascular diseases are the leading ailments responsible for deaths amongst women in the United States. A research conducted by the American Heart Association indicates that a significant number of African American descents above the age of 20 wee diagnosed with the condition in 2008. Additionally, the highest reported mortality rates are amongst these individuals. A leading risk factor for these cardiovascular diseases has been established to be hypertension with further studies indicating that 45.7% of all African American women have shown the highest prevalence rates amongst all the ethnic and racial groups that constitute the United States populace. Genetic factors have also been established to significantly contribute to the possibilities of a person developing high blood pressure. The allele T235 which has been positively correlated with an increase in angiotensinogen that eventually results in hypertension has been established to be higher in African American children in comparison to Caucasian ones (Taylor, et al., 2013). It should be noted that genetic testing as a tool is useful for screening and identifying individuals who have got high chances of developing the disease amongst persons at risk. However, very few women with an African-American background have got very minimal usage rates of such services which make them not to benefit from the advantages that come along with genetic testing to address the condition. It is crucial to have an excellent understanding of the barriers likely to affect the access of this portion of the populace to resources that can be used in carrying out genetic testing with the intentions of making them aware of the benefits and the potential harm they may be exposing themselves to if not well addressed. As such, it is important that the attitudes of these persons concerning undertaking genetic testing for hypertension be adequately addressed to determine the ways through which they can be assisted.
The main topics that will be addressed by this study will include the protection of human participants, data collection, data management and analysis, interpretation of the findings and the conclusion (Taylor, et al., 2013).
Protection of human participants
The benefits that participants in this research were to get were based on the fact they would have a better understanding of the risk factors likely to increase their susceptibility to high blood pressure. Informed consents were taken from three generations of women who were maternally related to each other and whose susceptibility to the condition was also determined (Taylor, et al., 2013). The fact that women who had issues related to substance abuse, end of stage cancer, mental illnesses or other terminal illnesses were excluded from the study is a clear indication that the participants who took part in the study were chosen on a voluntary basis. The approval to carry out this study was obtained from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, Institutional Review Boards (IRB). All these strategies were done to address any ethical issues that may have arisen for the study.
Data collection
This research aimed at addressing the problems that are associated with African American women in terms of their attitudes towards genetic testing for hypertension. The main areas of concern were the attitudes of these women in terms of their ages, educational levels and the available incomes that they have (Taylor, et al., 2013). Therefore, the independent variables in this study included age, the extent of education and level of income. The dependent variable was genetic testing.
Data collection was conducted by the use of research-developed questionnaires which gathered information from the three generation of women in each family focusing on their levels of education, age, household income, marital status and their sources of incomes. The data was collected from a sample of 183 African American women both young and old in the Detroit metropolitan area. The sequence of data collection involved the use of a 4-point Likert-type scale that ranged from 1 to 4 indicating whether the participants strongly disagreed or strongly agreed with the taking part in genetic testing (Taylor, et al., 2013). The rationale for using this method of data collection was to assess the correlation amongst the three groups of women in terms of their income, age and education with the intentions of examining their attitudes towards the benefits and outcomes of genetic testing (Taylor, et al., 2013). The timeline periods for collecting data for this study have not specified a factor which may be a limitation of this study.
Data management and analysis
Findings and their interpretation
Notably, an increase in the levels of education and age were linked to major disparities in the participants’ attitudes concerning their attitudes towards benefits and awareness of genetic testing. The values for benefits were F [2,160] = 5.19 at d= 0.006 and p= 0.007 while those ones for awareness stood at F [2,160] = 6.49 at d = 0.08 and p= 0.002 (Taylor, et al., 2013). These results are a true reflection of the reality since with higher levels of education and increasing age, individuals become more aware of the benefits of taking proper care of their health. As such, they are likely to be inclined towards appreciating the need for genetic testing.
The possible limitation that may be associated with this study is mainly focused on the participants readily giving their consent to participate in the study which may have altered the results because of their positive approval. Secondly, the results cannot be used to address the perception of all members of the population since it has only focused on African American women only. Additionally, the sample used may not be representative of the entire American population since the study was carried out in an urban area. The Likert-scale value used in this study was 0.66 which is less than the acceptable value of 0.70 (Taylor, et al., 2013). Finally, the fact that genetic testing was the basis of the study is not accepted clinically in carrying out surveys concerning hypertension and as such may impact the studies negatively. There is a coherent presentation of the findings in this study since all the results concerning the independent variables and how they influenced the dependent variable has been clearly documented. This study is significant to the nursing profession since care providers will be able to analyze the perception of African American women in terms of their ages, income levels and educational levels in their quest for addressing problems linked to hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. This will assist nurses in educating women about the importance of genetic testing. Further studies should focus on addressing the specific independent variable in line with how they make contributions concerning the perceptions of African American on genetic testing. Additionally, there is the need to include individuals from diverse ethnic groups in future studies to address the issue of generalizability (Burns & Grove, 2011).
Conclusion
It has been established that personal factors like age, educational levels, and level of income have got a profound effect on the perceptions that individual have concerning their perceptions of genetic testing. It is evident that with proper increasing levels of education, women become more aware of the importance of undertaking genetic test in determining their susceptibility to hypertension and consequently cardiovascular diseases (Taylor, et al., 2013). This knowledge is important to the nurse since the will be in a better position to provide the appropriate teaching ton these individual for them to prioritize their health matters.
References
Burns, N., & Grove, S. K. (2011). Understanding nursing research: Building an evidence-based practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Taylor, J. Y., Peternell, B., & Smith, J. A. (2013). Attitudes toward Genetic Testing for Hypertension among African American Women and Girls. Nursing research and practice, 2013.
