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Patient Attitudes Toward Pharmacogenetic Testing in Psychiatric Treatment

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The utilization of pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing in psychiatry is emerging into clinical practice as the literature on drug-gene interactions continues to grow. Professionals in the field and the general public believe that it is beneficial to treatment, and overall hold very favorable perceptions regarding PGx use. A few studies have examined psychiatric patient attitudes toward PGx testing. We reviewed these studies and presented new data.

Recent Findings

We surveyed 256 psychiatric inpatients and outpatients being treated at a large psychiatric hospital. Very few patients have heard of PGx, but with only a brief description of PGx testing, a vast majority felt enthusiastic about it and believed that it could help them. More than two-thirds of patients surveyed believed that PGx testing can be useful to their doctors and a majority of the sample were willing to undergo PGx testing if their doctors order it. Patients who have previously heard of PGx testing more frequently reported that they believed PGx testing would be beneficial to them. The most frequently reported concerns of patients were related to the cost and insurance coverage for PGx testing.

Summary

Both previous studies and our data showed that patient attitudes toward PGx testing were positive and it would increase their confidence in medication treatment.

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Data Availability

Data is available upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychiatry Research, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Northwell Health, 75-59 263rd Street, Glen Oaks, NY, 11004, USA

    Jonathan Tamaiev, Dipta Roy, Gunjan Desai, Todd Lencz, Anil Malhotra & Jian-Ping Zhang

  2. Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Zachary Bergson

  3. Department of Psychiatry, VA Boston Heathcare System, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA, 02301, USA

    Xiaowei Sun

  4. Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Department of Psychiatry, Hempstead, NY, USA

    Todd Lencz & Anil Malhotra

  5. Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA

    Todd Lencz & Anil Malhotra

  6. Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, 21 Bloomingdale Rd, White Plains, NY, 10605, USA

    Jian-Ping Zhang

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  1. Jonathan Tamaiev
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jian-Ping Zhang.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Tamaiev, Mr. Bergson, Dr. Sun, Mr. Roy, and Ms. Desai report no potential conflict of interest.

Dr. Lencz is a consultant to Genomind Inc, and has received grant support from the National Institute of Mental Health, Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation, and the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation.

Dr. Malhotra has received grant support from the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Malhotra is a consultant to Genomind, Inc and Concert Pharma, and is on the advisory board of InformedDNA.

Dr. Zhang has received grant support from the National Institute of Mental Health, Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation, and Genomind, Inc.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Tamaiev, J., Bergson, Z., Sun, X. et al. Patient Attitudes Toward Pharmacogenetic Testing in Psychiatric Treatment. Curr Behav Neurosci Rep 10, 30–40 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40473-023-00256-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40473-023-00256-5

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