Direct-to-consumer genetic testing : where and how does genetic counseling fit?
(2017) In Personalized Medicine 14(3). p.249-257- Abstract
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for disease ranges from well-validated diagnostic and predictive tests to 'research' results conferring increased risks. While being targeted at public curious about their health, they are also marketed for use in reproductive decision-making or management of disease. By virtue of being 'direct-to-consumer' much of this testing bypasses traditional healthcare systems. We argue that direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies should make genetic counseling available, pre- as well as post-test. While we do not advocate that mandatory genetic counseling should gate-keep access to direct-to-consumer genetic testing, if the testing process has the potential to cause psychological distress, then companies... (More)
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for disease ranges from well-validated diagnostic and predictive tests to 'research' results conferring increased risks. While being targeted at public curious about their health, they are also marketed for use in reproductive decision-making or management of disease. By virtue of being 'direct-to-consumer' much of this testing bypasses traditional healthcare systems. We argue that direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies should make genetic counseling available, pre- as well as post-test. While we do not advocate that mandatory genetic counseling should gate-keep access to direct-to-consumer genetic testing, if the testing process has the potential to cause psychological distress, then companies have a responsibility to provide support and should not rely on traditional healthcare systems to pick up the pieces. A video abstract is available for this article via this link .
(Less)
- author
- Middleton, Anna ; Mendes, Álvaro ; Benjamin, Caroline M and Howard, Heidi Carmen LU
- publishing date
- 2017
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- Direct-To-Consumer Screening and Testing/ethics, Genetic Counseling/statistics & numerical data, Genetic Testing/ethics, Humans, Precision Medicine/trends
- in
- Personalized Medicine
- volume
- 14
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 9 pages
- publisher
- Future Science
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85019375019
- pmid:29767582
- ISSN
- 1744-828X
- DOI
- 10.2217/pme-2017-0001
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- cae1801d-de29-47a4-8d71-09e93fa5b21d
- date added to LUP
- 2021-11-01 10:10:38
- date last changed
- 2024-08-25 03:14:36
@article{cae1801d-de29-47a4-8d71-09e93fa5b21d, abstract = {{<p>Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for disease ranges from well-validated diagnostic and predictive tests to 'research' results conferring increased risks. While being targeted at public curious about their health, they are also marketed for use in reproductive decision-making or management of disease. By virtue of being 'direct-to-consumer' much of this testing bypasses traditional healthcare systems. We argue that direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies should make genetic counseling available, pre- as well as post-test. While we do not advocate that mandatory genetic counseling should gate-keep access to direct-to-consumer genetic testing, if the testing process has the potential to cause psychological distress, then companies have a responsibility to provide support and should not rely on traditional healthcare systems to pick up the pieces. A video abstract is available for this article via this link .</p>}}, author = {{Middleton, Anna and Mendes, Álvaro and Benjamin, Caroline M and Howard, Heidi Carmen}}, issn = {{1744-828X}}, keywords = {{Direct-To-Consumer Screening and Testing/ethics; Genetic Counseling/statistics & numerical data; Genetic Testing/ethics; Humans; Precision Medicine/trends}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{3}}, pages = {{249--257}}, publisher = {{Future Science}}, series = {{Personalized Medicine}}, title = {{Direct-to-consumer genetic testing : where and how does genetic counseling fit?}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/pme-2017-0001}}, doi = {{10.2217/pme-2017-0001}}, volume = {{14}}, year = {{2017}}, }