Primary care physicians' knowledge of and experience with pharmacogenetic testing

Section Editor: Aad Tibben, email: a.tibben@lumc.nl It is anticipated that as the range of drugs for which pharmacogenetic testing becomes available expands, primary care physicians (PCPs) will become major users of these tests. To assess their training, familiarity, and attitudes toward pharmacogen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical genetics 2012-10, Vol.82 (4), p.388-394
Main Authors: Haga, SB, Burke, W, Ginsburg, GS, Mills, R, Agans, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
Biological and medical sciences
Drugs
Familiarity
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetic testing
Genetic Testing - methods
genetics
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Knowledge
Male
Medical genetics
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Molecular and cellular biology
Pharmacogenetics
Pharmacogenetics - methods
Pharmacogenetics - trends
Pharmacology
Physicians, Primary Care - psychology
Polls & surveys
Primary care
Sex Factors
survey
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
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Summary:Section Editor: Aad Tibben, email: a.tibben@lumc.nl It is anticipated that as the range of drugs for which pharmacogenetic testing becomes available expands, primary care physicians (PCPs) will become major users of these tests. To assess their training, familiarity, and attitudes toward pharmacogenetic testing in order to identify barriers to uptake that may be addressed at this early stage of test use, we conducted a national survey of a sample of PCPs. Respondents were mostly white (79%), based primarily in community‐based primary care (81%) and almost evenly divided between family medicine and internal medicine. The majority of respondents had heard of PGx testing and anticipated that these tests are or would soon become a valuable tool to inform drug response. However, only a minority of respondents (13%) indicated they felt comfortable ordering PGx tests and almost a quarter reported not having any education about pharmacogenetics. Our results indicate that primary care practitioners envision a major role for themselves in the delivery of PGx testing but recognize their lack of adequate knowledge and experience about these tests. Development of effective tools for guiding PCPs in the use of PGx tests should be a high priority.
ISSN:0009-9163
1399-0004
DOI:10.1111/j.1399-0004.2012.01908.x