Health Care Professionals’ Perceptions of the Role of Pharmacogenomic Data

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perceptions of health care professionals in examining the uses of pharmacogenomic data. METHODS: A mailed questionnaire elicited respondent perceptions of how the use of pharmacogenomic information would impact the provision of health-related services (7-point scale: 7=strongly increase to 1=strongly decrease). Respondents were also asked to describe their level of agreement to statements related to how pharmacoge-nomic information should be used (7-point scale: 7=strongly agree to 1=strongly dis-agree). One-sample t tests were used to investigate significant differences from the midpoint value of each scale. Survey participants were attendees of a policy confer-ence entitled “Pharmacogenomics: Implications for Patients, Providers, and Payers” sponsored by the university college of pharmacy. RESULTS: Respondents believed the use of pharmacogenomic information would affect several areas of health care, including the cost of insurance premiums (P<0.001), the use of confidential medical information (P=0.024), patient access t