Driver Morgan N, Kuo Sally I-Chun, Petronio Lia, Brockman Deanna, Dron Jacqueline S, Austin Jehannine, Dick Danielle M
Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States.
Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, United States.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Nov 23;13:1025483. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1025483. eCollection 2022.
As gene identification efforts have advanced in psychiatry, so have aspirations to use genome-wide polygenic information for prevention and intervention. Although polygenic risk scores (PRS) for substance use and psychiatric outcomes are not yet available in clinical settings, individuals can access their PRS through online direct-to-consumer resources. One of these widely used websites reports that alcohol use disorder is the third most requested PRS out of >1,000 conditions. However, data indicate that there are misunderstandings about complex genetic concepts, with a lower understanding of PRS being associated with a more negative impact of receiving polygenic risk information. There is a need to develop and evaluate educational tools to increase understanding of PRS.
We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of web-based educational information on understanding of PRS for alcohol use disorder. A total of 325 college students (70.4% female; 43.6% White; mean age = 18.9 years) from an urban, diverse university completed the study.
Overall, participants were highly satisfied with the educational information. Results from a one-way ANOVA indicated that there was a significant increase in overall understanding of PRS for alcohol use disorder (-value < 0.001), among individuals who received educational information about PRS and alcohol use disorder, as compared to receiving no accompanying information (adj. -value < 0.001), or educational information about alcohol use disorder only (adj. -value < 0.001).
These findings suggest that the web-based educational tool could be provided alongside polygenic risk information in order to enhance understanding and interpretation of the information.
[ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05143073].
随着精神病学领域基因识别工作的进展，利用全基因组多基因信息进行预防和干预的愿望也在增强。尽管物质使用和精神疾病结果的多基因风险评分（PRS）在临床环境中尚未可用，但个人可以通过在线直接面向消费者的资源获取自己的PRS。其中一个广泛使用的网站报告称，酒精使用障碍是1000多种疾病中第三大最常被请求的PRS。然而，数据表明人们对复杂的遗传概念存在误解，对PRS的理解较低与接受多基因风险信息的负面影响更大有关。需要开发和评估教育工具以增进对PRS的理解。
我们进行了一项随机对照试验，以评估基于网络的教育信息对理解酒精使用障碍PRS的影响。来自一所城市多元化大学的325名大学生（70.4%为女性；43.6%为白人；平均年龄 = 18.9岁）完成了该研究。
总体而言，参与者对教育信息高度满意。单因素方差分析结果表明，与未收到相关信息（调整后p值 < 0.001）或仅收到酒精使用障碍教育信息（调整后p值 < 0.001）相比，在收到关于PRS和酒精使用障碍教育信息的个体中，对酒精使用障碍PRS的总体理解有显著提高（p值 < 0.001）。
这些发现表明，可以在提供多基因风险信息的同时提供基于网络的教育工具，以增强对该信息的理解和解读。
[ClinicalTrials.gov]，标识符 [NCT05143073]
