Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

Genetic Counseling

First Advisor

Janice Edwards

Abstract

Individuals with Huntington’s Disease (HD) have experienced bias in their interactions with the public and with health professionals. This study explored perceptions of HD and potential bias among students in interdisciplinary health professions. We hypothesized that the presence of symptoms in vignettes would reflect increased implicit bias, participants with exposure to HD would show less bias than those without, and genetic counseling students would exhibit lower bias towards HD than medical and physician assistant students.

Attitudes towards those with HD were assessed through one of four vignettes about a fictional character in which a presymptomatic diagnosis was present or absent, and for whom symptoms were present or absent. A total of 25 participants completed the study, including University of South Carolina medical (n = 6) and physician assistant (n = 8) students and a national sampling of genetic counseling students (n = 11). Participants completed surveys measuring implicit bias via the Characteristics Scale, explicit bias via the Social Distance Scale, and familiarity with HD via the Level of Contact Report after reading a vignette assigned through stratified sampling. Three participants completed individual interviews further exploring their responses.

A significant difference (p = 0.004) was observed between vignette scenario assignment and a measure on the Characteristic Scale, indicating when diagnosis is known and a patient is exhibiting "atypical" behaviors, participants were less likely to negatively exhibit bias and more likely to view that person with positive regard. Students reported varying levels of experience with symptomatic and asymptomatic HD patients, including classroom education and neurogenetics rotations. Experience with HD could contribute to less biased attitudes, as one interviewee expressed.

No statistically significant differences were identified by the social distance scale, although genetic counseling students appeared to report the lowest levels of bias.

This exploratory study was limited in number of responses. The findings suggest that health professional education about HD may support professional knowledge while also decreasing bias toward those affected by HD, crucial for the interdisciplinary health care this condition requires. Expert guest lecturers, exposure to affected individuals, and clinical experiences would support this educational objective.

Rights

© 2026, Cameron Lynn Galley

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