Regulations and practices of genetic counselling in 38 European countries: the perspective of national representatives
Författare
Summary, in English
The aim of this article is to review the national regulations and practices of genetic counselling in 38 European countries, and to examine how well they intersect the ideals of genetic counselling defined in international guidelines. Using an electronic survey, representatives of the National Societies of Human Genetics in 29 countries, and appropriate contact persons for the field of genetic counselling in 9 other countries, were asked about the regulations and practices. The answers showed that consent, confidentiality, genetic counselling in the context of prenatal diagnosis, those professionals who may perform genetic counselling, and non-directiveness were the topics most often either agreed upon among professionals or regulated in those countries. These are also among the key aspects of ideal genetic counselling, based on international guidelines. Counselling in the context of susceptibility testing for multifactorial diseases, counselling people from ethnic minorities and recontacting the counsellees, on the contrary, were topics regulated or guided by generally applied practices in only few countries. Many of the answers expressed a desire for more regulation of genetic counselling, and that more uniform practices of education and organization of genetic counselling would be welcome in Europe.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2008
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
1208-1216
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
European Journal of Human Genetics
Volym
16
Issue
10
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Nature Publishing Group
Ämne
- Medical Genetics
Nyckelord
- practices
- national
- national regulation
- genetic testing
- genetic counselling
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1476-5438