Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 16, 2026
09:17
Using a Virtual Store As a Research Tool to Investigate Consumer In-store Behavior
Published on: July 24, 2017
11.9K
Consumer Health Informatics Aspects of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomic Testing
Kathleen Gray1, Remya Stephen1, Bronwyn Terrill2
1The University of Melbourne, VIC Australia.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
|January 4, 2018
Summary
Direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing offers some health information but lacks consistency. Consumers are ambivalent about its utility for health management, highlighting a need for improved consumer health informatics approaches.
Area of Science:
- Consumer Health Informatics
- Genomic Medicine
- Health Communication
Background:
- Direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing (DTC-PGT) is increasingly available.
- Understanding its role in consumer health management is crucial.
- Existing research lacks comprehensive analysis of DTC-PGT as health information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore DTC-PGT as a source of health information.
- To assess its utility in supporting consumer health self-management.
- To identify areas for improvement using a consumer health informatics framework.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative content analysis of DTC-PGT provider websites.
- Analysis of focus group transcripts from the Australian public.
- Examination of consumer expectations and understanding of genomic test reports.
Main Results:
- DTC-PGT services exhibit some consumer health information characteristics but lack standardization.
- Participants showed limited understanding of test reports and associated information.
- Consumer expectations regarding health benefits were sometimes inflated, with ambivalence about utility for self-management.
Conclusions:
- DTC-PGT has potential but requires refinement to effectively assist consumers in health management.
- Consumer health informatics can enhance the utility and user-friendliness of these services.
- Future research should investigate the impact of health literacy and provider engagement on DTC-PGT uptake and effectiveness.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Applications of Integration to Find Consumer Surplus
68
In microeconomics, consumer surplus represents the economic gain that consumers experience when they purchase a good or service for less than the highest price they are willing to pay. This surplus arises from the characteristics of the demand function, which links the quantity of a good to the price consumers are willing to pay. As the quantity of a good increases, the price that consumers are willing to pay for each additional unit typically decreases, resulting in a downward-sloping demand...
68
01:22Self-Report Tests of Personality
888
Self-report inventories are objective personality assessments that use multiple-choice items or numbered scales, typically ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). They are often called Likert scales after Rensis Likert. These inventories are widely used due to their ease of administration and cost-effectiveness. One of the most prominent examples is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), initially developed in the 1940s to assess abnormal personality traits.
888
02:02Genomics
40.9K
Genomics is the science of genomes: it is the study of all the genetic material of an organism. In humans, the genome consists of information carried in 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nucleus, as well as mitochondrial DNA. In genomics, both coding and non-coding DNA is sequenced and analyzed. Genomics allows a better understanding of all living things, their evolution, and their diversity. It has a myriad of uses: for example, to build phylogenetic trees, to improve productivity and...
40.9K
02:30Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
37.3K
Diploid organisms inherit genetic material through chromosomes from both parents. Copies of the same gene are known as alleles. In most cases, both alleles are simultaneously expressed and allow various cellular processes to function optimally. If one of the alleles is missing or mutated, the expression of the other allele can compensate; however, this is not true for all genes.
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
37.3K
01:30Quantitative Aspects of Drug-Receptor Interaction
1.8K
The receptor occupancy theory connects a drug's response to the number of occupied receptors. With higher drug concentrations, more receptors are occupied, leading to increased responses. The formation of drug-receptor complexes involves association and dissociation rates, which reach equilibrium when the forward and backward reactions are equal. The equilibrium association constant (Ka) and its inverse, the equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd), indicate drug affinity. Higher Ka and lower...
1.8K
01:21Health Literacy
5.4K
Health literacy is an individual's or a community's capacity to comprehend, receive, read, and use relevant healthcare information and services. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) defines health literacy as the cognitive and social skills that determine the ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information in ways that promote and maintain good health. As a result, the WHO helps individuals manage long-term health concerns, participate in preventative...
5.4K