Fiona Lynch, Stephanie Best, Clara Gaff, Lilian Downie, Alison D Archibald, Christopher Gyngell, Ilias Goranitis, Riccarda Peters, Julian Savulescu, Sebastian Lunke, Zornitza Stark, Danya F Vears
{"title":"Australian public perspectives on genomic newborn screening: which conditions should be included?","authors":"Fiona Lynch, Stephanie Best, Clara Gaff, Lilian Downie, Alison D Archibald, Christopher Gyngell, Ilias Goranitis, Riccarda Peters, Julian Savulescu, Sebastian Lunke, Zornitza Stark, Danya F Vears","doi":"10.1186/s40246-024-00611-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Implementing genomic sequencing into newborn screening programs allows for significant expansion in the number and scope of conditions detected. We sought to explore public preferences and perspectives on which conditions to include in genomic newborn screening (gNBS).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We recruited English-speaking members of the Australian public over 18 years of age, using social media, and invited them to participate in online focus groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seventy-five members of the public aged 23-72 participated in one of fifteen focus groups. Participants agreed that if prioritisation of conditions was necessary, childhood-onset conditions were more important to include than later-onset conditions. Despite the purpose of the focus groups being to elicit public preferences, participants wanted to defer to others, such as health professionals or those with a lived experience of each condition, to make decisions about which conditions to include. Many participants saw benefit in including conditions with no available treatment. Participants agreed that gNBS should be fully publicly funded.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>How many and which conditions are included in a gNBS program will be a complex decision requiring detailed assessment of benefits and costs alongside public and professional engagement. Our study provides support for implementing gNBS for treatable childhood-onset conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":13183,"journal":{"name":"Human Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11077791/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Human Genomics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40246-024-00611-x","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GENETICS & HEREDITY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Implementing genomic sequencing into newborn screening programs allows for significant expansion in the number and scope of conditions detected. We sought to explore public preferences and perspectives on which conditions to include in genomic newborn screening (gNBS).
Methods: We recruited English-speaking members of the Australian public over 18 years of age, using social media, and invited them to participate in online focus groups.
Results: Seventy-five members of the public aged 23-72 participated in one of fifteen focus groups. Participants agreed that if prioritisation of conditions was necessary, childhood-onset conditions were more important to include than later-onset conditions. Despite the purpose of the focus groups being to elicit public preferences, participants wanted to defer to others, such as health professionals or those with a lived experience of each condition, to make decisions about which conditions to include. Many participants saw benefit in including conditions with no available treatment. Participants agreed that gNBS should be fully publicly funded.
Conclusion: How many and which conditions are included in a gNBS program will be a complex decision requiring detailed assessment of benefits and costs alongside public and professional engagement. Our study provides support for implementing gNBS for treatable childhood-onset conditions.
期刊介绍:
Human Genomics is a peer-reviewed, open access, online journal that focuses on the application of genomic analysis in all aspects of human health and disease, as well as genomic analysis of drug efficacy and safety, and comparative genomics.
Topics covered by the journal include, but are not limited to: pharmacogenomics, genome-wide association studies, genome-wide sequencing, exome sequencing, next-generation deep-sequencing, functional genomics, epigenomics, translational genomics, expression profiling, proteomics, bioinformatics, animal models, statistical genetics, genetic epidemiology, human population genetics and comparative genomics.