Acceptance of Asthma Pharmacogenetic Study by Children and Adults.

BACKGROUND Pharmacogenetic testing may change clinical medicine by allowing clinicians to tailor medications based on a patient's genetic makeup, however, these tests must first be validated in large, real-life populations of subjects that include children. A dearth of knowledge exists for whether pediatric populations are as willing as adult populations to provide samples for such studies. OBJECTIVE (1) To assess whether pediatric and adult patients with persistent asthma are willing to provide specimens for DNA extraction and genetic studies. (2) To assess whether patients' willingness to provide blood as compared to buccal smear specimens differ. METHODS Of 644 patients ages 4-38 years who had three or more prescription fills for inhaled corticosteroids in one year, 60% (385) were randomized to the blood specimen group and 40% (259) were randomized to the buccal smear group in order to study acceptance of different biospecimen collection methods. Research assistants contacted subjects to obtain consent, perform a phone survey, and request a specimen. RESULTS There were no baseline differences between subjects randomized to the blood specimen group versus buccal smear group with respect to age, gender, or number of dispensings of inhaled corticosteroids. Of 259 subjects in the buccal smear group, 30% (78) provided samples, and of 385 subjects in the blood specimen group, 16% (60) provided samples. Subjects randomized to the buccal smear group were more likely to provide specimens for genetic study compared to subjects randomized to the blood specimen group (RR 1.21; 95% CI 1.10 - 1.32), even after adjusting for age. Pediatric subjects were more likely to provide specimens for genetic study than adult subjects with 23% (113) of pediatric subjects providing samples and 15% (25) of adult subjects providing samples (p=0.03). CONCLUSION Children with asthma are as likely to participate in genetic studies as adults. Both children and adult subjects are more likely to provide buccal smear specimens rather than blood specimens for genetic study.