Genetic susceptibility testing for beryllium: worker knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gorniewicz J ; Kukulka G ; Rayman K ; Sharp R ; Silver K
• Description:
  Background: We sought to gain insight into workers' knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes on the subject of testing for genetic susceptibility to beryllium. Methods: Five focus groups were held with 30 current and former beryllium workers and nine family members. Audio recordings were transcribed and assessed by hierarchical coding using an inductive approach. Results: Some workers were unclear about the distinction between genotoxicity and heritability. A key finding is that they perceived the benefits of a positive test result to be related to enhanced autonomous decision-making. The major concern cited by participants was potential abuse of genetic information by employers. Complete financial separation of a prospective testing entity from the employer was seen as crucial. Conclusions: A window of opportunity exists to create regional partnerships for translational research on genetic susceptibility testing. Such partnerships would involve labor, management, public health scientists, primary care professionals, and other stakeholders. They would be critical to identifying testing strategies that maximize worker autonomy along with the public health advantages of genetic testing. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Beryllium Decision Making Diagnosis Family Genetics Hypersensitivity Mass Behavior Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Attitude Author Keywords: Beryllium Beryllium-compounds Decision-making Department Of Energy Diagnostic-techniques Diagnostic-tests Employee-health Families Genes Genetic-factors Genetic Testing Genotoxicity Group-behavior Group-dynamics Health-care Heredity Los Alamos OakRidge Sensitivity-testing Sensitization Workers

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Tennessee
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  54
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039043
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2011 Jul; 54(7):521-532
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Ken Silver, DSc, Department of Environmental Health, East Tennessee State University, P.O. Box 70682, Johnson City,TN 37614
• Email:
  silver@etsu.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Beryllium (CAS RN 7440-41-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040801
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20090630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:51c088d68b3a4029f1d70befa500264d1293e008060c74defc23c1b8c6d2a0b04a3bc3ae1c5a9063974091c23ea18136c011d9dc7c3fb11e7bafdb98d8aefb95
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192536/cdc_192536_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 144.18 KB ]