Healthcare Professional Clinical Actions following Nutrigenomics Testing in Practice

Abstract

Background: Clinical demand for nutrigenomics testing (NGT) is increasing, underscoring the importance of assessing healthcare professional (HCP) competence and clinical actions with NGT in practice. While previous studies have explored HCP perceptions of NGT, no study has examined real HCP experiences with NGT in practice.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical experience of providing NGT among early adopter HCPs who have used NGT in their practice. We hypothesized that HCP clinical actions after NGT would differ according to HCP personal experience undergoing genetic testing (GT) as well as years in practice.

Design: An online survey questionnaire was administered to HCPs (n = 70) who have provided NGT in practice. χ2 tests, tests for trend, and logistic regression were used to compare HCP characteristics with post-NGT outcomes.

Results: HCPs with fewest years in practice (<5 years) comprised the lowest proportion of respondents (16%). Most HCPs reported good understanding of NGT results and 92% made genetic-based dietary recommendations to patients following NGT. HCP personal use of GT increased significantly with increasing years in practice (<5 years: 36%, 5-10 years: 53%, 11-20 years: 70%, and >20 years: 85%, p trend = 0.003). Requesting patient bloodwork because of NGT results increased significantly with HCP years in practice when HCPs with <5 years in practice were not considered (5-10 years: 19%, 11-20 years: 28%, and >20 years: 60%, p trend = 0.010). A near significant difference was observed where a greater proportion of HCPs who had personally undergone GT reported requesting patient bloodwork (personal use: 46% vs. no personal use: 23%, p-χ2 = 0.066).

Conclusion: Early HCP adopters of NGT utilize the test results to provide genetic-based dietary recommendations to patients. Clinical action after NGT currently appears to be driven by HCP years in practice, but HCP personal use of GT may also be a factor.

Keywords: Communication of test results; Education in genetics; Genetic testing; Nutrigenomics.