Physicians' Understanding of Human Genetic Variation

Overview

This study will develop a survey instrument to measure primary care physicians' knowledge of the variation in human genetics, their beliefs about biologic and genetic differences according to patients' race and ethnicity, and how that knowledge is used in their clinical decision making. Genomics research today is such that primary care physicians will be responsible for translating new genetic knowledge, drug therapies, and single and multiplex genetic testing into clinical practice. Physicians who are board certified general internists, including those who practice and teach in research and teaching hospitals in urban areas of the United States, may be eligible for this study. Participants will be recruited through invitation and information letters mailed to leaders of local chapters of physician organizations, through letters and e-mail sent to qualifying general internists in databases, and through e-mail sent to academic physicians who practice or teach medicine at medical schools that meet the inclusion criteria. The number of participants is estimated at 96 in the first phase of the study. The researchers are especially interested in general internists who provide general and preventative health care services to patients of various racial, ethnic, and ancestral backgrounds. This study will use qualitative methods-focus groups and semistructured interviews-and quantitative methods. Two pilot focus group sessions, with about eight members each, are planned for Washington, D.C. Other settings for the study are Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Those locations were selected based on population density, availability of several teaching hospitals with diverse patient populations, availability of physicians meeting the study requirements, and the need to address important regions nationwide. The focus groups will be separated by region and self-identified race-for example, one group consisting of African American internists from Atlanta and another of white internists from Atlanta. The facilitator will be a general internist of the same race. Each focus group session, to last about 90 minutes, will be audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Data from the focus groups will be analyzed for themes and phrases, and a scale will be developed to assess responses. Then the scale will be reviewed by two panels of experts. One panel will be experts in genetics and human genetic variation, and the other will be social scientists and survey researchers who are experts in developing surveys. For the semistructured interviews, two physicians who participated in a given focus group will be invited to participate, based on their engagement in the discussion and interest in the project. This will be a face-to-face interview of 60 to 90 minutes. A total of 32 interviews will be conducted. After the scale is revised, a second pilot study will be done. For that study, 3,500 primary care physicians will be invited to participate in a web-based survey by using the scale. It is anticipated that there will be sufficient sample size to examine the properties of the scale. The proposed timetable for the study is 2 years. Benefits from participating in the study include participants' increased understanding of human genetic variation and awareness of how other physicians understand and use race and ethnicity in their practice of medicine. Also, information gained will be useful to improve physicians' training. There will be compensation for participation. Each physician will receive $150, and those who participate in both the focus group and semistructured interview will receive $150 for each session. ...