Effectiveness of evidence-based decision aids for women with pathogenic BRCA1 or BRCA2 variants in the german health care context: results from a randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population

Characteristic	TG		IG		CG		p-value
Characteristic	n	%	n	%	n	%
Medical history
Pathogenic variant	417	100	216	100	201	100
BRCA1^a	233	55.9	124	57.4	109	54.2	0.572
BRCA2	178	42.7	88	40.7	90	44.8
BRCA1 and BRCA2	6	1.4	4	1.9	2	1.0
Own cancer history	417	100	216	100	201	100
(A) No history of cancer (previvors)	292	70.0	157	72.7	135	67.2	0.219
(B) History of unilateral BC (survivors)	125	30.0	59	27.3	66	32.8
Recruitment at	417	100	216	100	201	100
PTGC	142	34.1	81	37.5	61	30.3	0.124
IBS/IBSA	275	65.9	135	62.5	140	69.7
Time since genetic test result	401	100	209	100	192	100
≤ 1 year	189	47.1	106	50.7	83	43.2	0.324
> 1 to ≤ 5 years	142	35.4	69	33.0	73	38.0
> 5 years	70	17.5	34	16.3	36	18.8
Own children	415	100	215	100	200	100
Yes	243	58.6	121	56.3	122	61.0	0.329
No	172	41.4	94	43.7	78	39.0
Family planning completed	414	100	214	100	200	100
Yes	229	55.3	103	48.1	126	63.0	0.010*
No	159	38.4	96	44.9	63	31.5
Not specified	26	6.3	15	7.0	11	5.5
Demographics
Mean Age (years) [SD]	39.8	[11.4]	38.2	[11.3]	41.4	[11.2]
Age group (years)	417	100	216	100	201	100
18–40	236	56.6	139	64.4	97	48.3	0.001*
> 40	181	43.4	77	35.6	104	51.7	0.001*
Marital status	415	100	216	100	199	100
Married/relationship	243	58.6	123	56.9	120	60.0	0.488
Single/separated/divorced/widowed	172	41.4	93	43.1	79	39.7	0.488
Highest vocationally relevant degree	416	100	216	100	200	100
Academic^b	162	38.9	82	38.0	80	40.0	0.670
Not academic^c	254	61.1	134	62.0	120	60.3	0.670
Employment status	415	100	216	100	199	100
Employed^d	284	68.4	142	65.7	142	71.4	0.219
Not employed^e	131	31.6	74	34.3	57	28.6	0.219

^aone participant with a pathogenic BRCA1 variant also had a pathogenic CHEK2 variant
^bincludes: university degree, university of applied science degree
^cincludes: no degree, middle/intermediate school certification, final/technical high school certification
^dincludes: full/part time employment
^eincludes: school/training/studies, parental leave, unemployed, not able to work, retired, temporary job, not specified
*statistically significant difference between IG and CG (Pearson’s chi-square test).
BC: breast cancer; PTGC: posttest genetic counseling; IBS/IBSA: intensified breast surveillance (and aftercare);
TG: total group (IG and CG); IG: intervention group; CG: control group.

ISSN: 1472-6947