Educating patients on genomic results: a scoping review (Preprint)
BACKGROUND The current levels of specifically trained medical professional in genomic testing may not be able to address the pending increase of genomic data in clinical practice. Mapping out the current literature on education approaches to help medical providers assist patients with genetic and genomic test results will help highlight areas requiring further development. OBJECTIVE Perform a scoping review to identify the various education methods available to assist consumer and professional education for interpreting genetic and genomic test results. Efforts to prepare healthcare providers to enhance their effectiveness in helping patients interpreting their results will also be identified. METHODS This scoping review includes studies that are both quantitative and/or qualitative, randomized control trials (RCT) or quasi-randomized controlled trials (quasi-RCT) of adults (aged 18 and over) where actual (clinical studies) or imagined (analogue studies) research has been conducted to test methods of providing patient education for their genetic/genomic test results or efforts to enhance the ability of healthcare providers to discriminate this particular type of information. The search query was run on the following databases: PubMeb Central; MEDLINE; EMBASE (OvidSP); PsycINFO; CINAHL; ERIC; Consumer Health Complete; Healthsource – Consumer & Nursing/Academic editions. RESULTS 26 manuscripts were selected for inclusion for this study. The papers were categorized into three themes that emerged: papers focused on education interventions between patients and providers, professional and curriculum development to enhance adoption and comprehension of medical genetics, and review papers, which were found to have overlap with the intended aim of this paper. CONCLUSIONS There are a few clear areas where emphasis should be placed for further work on this topic: continuing to develop web-based educational tools designed with active learning methodologies, conducting more randomized controlled trials to develop more robust evidence, and linking clinical outcomes with educational interventions, which will in turn assist in developing new medical curriculum with a renewed emphasis on genomics.