Self-Reported Pharmacogenetic Medication Use in the Our Future Health Cohort.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacogenomics
• Clinical Pharmacology
• Population Health

Background:

• Pharmacogenetic guidance aids in optimizing drug therapy, minimizing adverse events, and improving treatment efficacy.
• The Our Future Health (OFH) cohort provides a valuable resource for studying genetic variations and their impact on health outcomes.
• Understanding medication use patterns in relation to pharmacogenetics is crucial for personalized medicine initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the self-reported use of medications with established pharmacogenetic guidance within the OFH cohort.
• To examine the prevalence of use for specific pharmacogenes (CYP2C19, CYP2C9, CYP2D6, SLCO1B1) and clinically actionable medications.
• To analyze medication use patterns based on demographic factors like age, sex, and ethnicity.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of self-reported medication use from the OFH cohort (June 2025 release, N=1.78 million).
• Focus on 18 medication groups with pharmacogenetic relevance, including antidepressants, statins, PPIs, ibuprofen, opioids, clopidogrel, and warfarin.
• Stratification of findings by age, sex, and ethnicity, and assessment of concurrent medication use.

Main Results:

• 25.2% of OFH participants reported using at least one medication with pharmacogenetic guidance.
• Users of these medications were typically older, more frequently female, and had more comorbidities.
• Concurrent use of multiple pharmacogenetically actionable medications metabolized by different genes was common (37% of users).

Conclusions:

• A substantial proportion of the OFH cohort uses medications benefiting from pharmacogenetic guidance.
• Medication use with pharmacogenetic implications is prevalent across all age groups, increasing with age.
• The OFH cohort is poised to become a critical resource for large-scale pharmacogenetic research, especially with future data linkages.