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From Resistance to Usefulness: Sociology and the Clinical Use of Genetic Tests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2008

Adam Hedgecoe
Adam Hedgecoe
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QNUK E-mail: a.m.hedgecoe@sussex.ac.uk
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Abstract

Drawing on previous research on geneticization and the clinical uptake of pharmacogenetics, this article argues for the use of the concept of clinical usefulness, in preference to the idea of clinical resistance to such testing. A general framework for clinical usefulness is sketched out, looking at how a number of features (clinicians’ knowledge, the differing interests of clinicians and researchers, how context influences the value of tests’ accuracy, the economic aspects of such tests and general cultural aspects of the clinic) influence how ‘useful’ a genetic or pharmacogenetic test will be seen to be by clinicians.

Keywords

APOE4Clinical UptakeGenetic TestPharmacogenetics
Type
Articles
Information
BioSocieties , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 183 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © London School of Economics and Political Science 2008

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