Star power: the effect of Angelina Jolie's personal story of BRCA1 mutation on testing rates among commercially insured women

Star power: the effect of Angelina Jolie's personal story of BRCA1 mutation on testing rates among commercially insured women

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Insight on the issues (AARP Public Policy Institute)
Author(s):
Walker, Lina, author
Morin, Pamela, author
Contributor(s):
AARP (Organization)
Public Policy Institute (AARP (Organization))
Publication:
Washington, D.C. : AARP Public Policy Institute, February 2015
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
BRCA1 Protein -- genetics
Breast Neoplasms -- genetics
Breast Neoplasms -- prevention & control
Famous Persons
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Genetic Testing -- statistics & numerical data
Genetic Testing -- trends
Health Services Needs and Demand
Mutation -- genetics
Adult
Aged
Elective Surgical Procedures
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Insurance Claim Review
Insurance Coverage
Insurance, Health
Mass Media
Mastectomy
Middle Aged
Female
Humans
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Following Angelina Jolie's May 2013 New York Times op-ed about her double mastectomy after testing positive for a BRCA1 gene mutation, BRCA testing rates among women ages 35 and older enrolled in a large U.S. health insurance carrier increased. The increase was higher among women who had no personal history of breast, ovarian, or pancreatic cancer--women with the same profile as Angelina Jolie--than women with a cancer diagnosis. It was also higher for white and Hispanic women, compared with blacks and Asians. Although we cannot verify that Jolie's story was the only cause of the increase, our results strongly suggest that it was likely the main contributor to increased BRCA testing rates.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (11 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
101656655 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101656655