The Disclosure of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Sounding Out the Psychological Perspective of Consumers

In implementing genetic testing on a larger scale, there is a need to understand who the consumer of genetic testing really is. One must therefore consider the uniqueness of every individual’s psychological, social, cognitive and behavioral profiles. According to these premises, we assume that having information about the consumers’ psychosocial-cognitive state would help healthcare professionals and policy makers to find effective strategies that can be employed to successfully interact with consumers, and thereby strive to really enhance individual empowerment and shared decision making [2-4].