Psychological distress in the 5-year period after predictive testing for Huntington's disease

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Abstract
The paper reports on a 5-year longitudinal study on psychological distress after predictive testing for Huntington's disease (HD) and on correlates of post-test distress. Psychometric tests and questionnaires were used. The tested persons were invited to participate in the follow-up study; the uptake rate was 75% (24 carriers, 33 non-carriers). Three time points were included: baseline, 1 year and 5 years post-test. Five years after the test, mean distress scores of both carriers and non-carriers were within the normal range. Carriers did not differ from non-carriers with regard to mean general distress. Compared to non-carriers, however, carriers had significantly less positive feelings (PPPPPPPPPP<0.05). The findings suggest that pre- and post-test counselling should pay special attention to persons with lower ego-strength and with an unspecified test motivation, because they are at higher risk for long-term psychological distress, independently of the test result.

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