A recent study carried out by the iGenoMed Consortium with researchers from Laval University, McGill University Health Centre, the Université de Montréal, Montreal General Hospital, and the Montreal Heart Institute, offer some insight into what people living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis think about predictive testing.
The study, “Factors leading to acceptance of, and willingness to pay for predictive testing among chronically ill patients”, was published in the Journal of Academy of Business and Economics. The study sought to determine if people with inflammatory bowel disease would consider using a blood test to predict how well they would respond to a given drug.
After surveying 210 Canadians with IBD, researchers found that the majority of participants would agree to undergo such a test, and that they would be willing to pay for it out-of-pocket; the latter being a clear indication of a true need patients feel for a tool that would support treatment decisions. Patients who consulted their specialist more frequently were more likely to be interested in predictive testing because of the severity of their disease.
This study reveals a clear interest in developing an accessible test for predicting response to therapy and the perceived value in such a medical innovation. In addition, the study’s researchers suggest that government regulatory agencies, as well as public and private health insurance plans, should also consider the positive patient perception of pharmacogenomics tests, as it suggests there is a demand for this type of technology.
The full article from the Journal of Academy of Business and Economics can be found
here.
This study was funded by Génome Québec, Genome Canada, the Government of Canada, and the Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur, de la recherche, de la science et de la technologie du Québec, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Genome BC, and Crohn’s and Colitis Canada.