Implications of Personal Genomic Testing for Health Behaviors: The Case of Smoking
Conclusions:
Overall, smokers show a high level of interest in genetic risks of smoking-related illnesses. The experience of receiving direct-to-consumer genomic health risks does not appear to have obvious harms related to smoking behaviors, with some potential benefits.
Implications:
In the setting of ongoing controversy surrounding direct-to-consumer genomic testing, this study provides evidence that consumers are interested in genetic risk results of smoking-related diseases. Receiving genomic testing results does not lead to smoking initiation among never smokers or reinitiation among former smokers and may be associated with a higher quit rate among current smokers at 6-month follow-up than the general population. These findings ease concerns that direct-to-consumer genomic testing could lead to false reassurance and unhealthy behaviors related to smoking.
Source: Nicotine and Tobacco Research - Category: Addiction Authors: Olfson, E., Hartz, S., Carere, D. A., Green, R. C., Roberts, J. S., Bierut, L. J., for the PGen Study Group Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research
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