Interest in genetic testing appears to be affected to some degree by the utility of the resulting information for prevention or treatment, and as well as the conclusiveness of the results. Laegsgaard et al. (2009) reported that many Danish patients would undergo genetic testing if treatment or prophylaxis were available: 35% of anxiety patients (n=105), 28% of bipolar patients (n=29), 46% of schizophrenia patients (n=35), and 51% of depression patients (n=228). But many others would be tested notwithstanding treatment possibilities (anxiety 41%, bipolar 55%, schizophrenia 31%, and depression 36%). Other studies indicate that interest is often associated with the degree of certainty a test offers. (Meiser et al., 2005; 2008) A survey by Meiser et al. (2008) of bipolar depressed or schizoaffective patients (n=105) and unaffected family members (n=95), all enrolled in genetic research, showed that if a positive test would indicate a 25% lifetime risk, 75% of patients and 79% of family members were probably or definitely interested; those figures increase to 91% of patients and 92% of family members for a 100% lifetime risk. The increasing interest as the test’s predictive power increased was significant for both groups (signed rank tests 25–50% risk: p<0.001; 50–75%: p<0.001; 75–100%: p=0.04).
