Pharmacogenomics to optimise psychotropic prescribing: a survey of mental health professionals’ perceptions, knowledge, and educational needs
A survey was conducted to determine attitudes, knowledge, and educational needs of mental health professionals regarding pharmacogenomics. We recruited 128 clinicians working in mental health in England, and we assessed their experiences using an adapted version of the "U-PGx Clinician's Questionnaire". Responding clinicians had positive attitudes towards pharmacogenomics testing, although they lacked confidence in ordering and interpreting tests, for which most had never received any formal training. Only 6% of clinicians answered all 4 knowledge testing questions correctly, and barriers to clinical implementation included lack of familiarity and knowledge for several pharmacogenomics concepts, such as drug metabolism and genetics, as well as needing support from their working institution. Looking ahead, we found that accredited workshops and patient cases were preferred learning formats, and we suggest tailored education programmes to enable mental health professionals to apply pharmacogenomics in clinical practice.
Authors
- Joanna Curwen
- Sabrina Richards (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0941-6865)
- Agostina Secchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6277-7278)
- Rebecca Griffiths (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5711-4039)
- Lauren Varney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1139-4790)
- Matthew Allin
- Sai-Bo Cheung
- Jamie Principato Crane
- Yogita Dawda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0967-4760)
- Louise Rowe-Leete
- Alison Welfare‐Wilson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9202-6288)
- Alex J. Berry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6231-541X)
- Noushin Saadullah Khani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6678-4693)
- Jazmin Molai
- Carmel Thomas
- Rosemary Abidoph
- Rajvinder Shokkar
- Daniele Panconesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1128-6687)
- Ajai Kumar
- Maria Richards-Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0279-0793)
- D. R. Mills
- Stefania Bonaccorso
- Rosie Murdoch
- Anita Chinazam Jibero
- Georgy Pius
- Philip van Driel
- Alvin Richards-Belle
- Elvira Bramon
- Marius Cotic
- Massimo Bernini
- Rhianne Bostock
- Chetan Shah
- Suruthy Senthilkumar
- Pratima Singh
- Rashad Nazir
- Yousuf Rahimi
- Parveen Sharma
- James Fenwick
- Jack Cheshire
- Stephen Murtough
- Bethany Pastor
- Simon Gibbon
- Magdalana Barczyk
- Myles Howard
- Asif Mir
- Rebecca Cox
Institutions
- Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- North East London NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Mental Health Research UK (GB)
- Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust (GB)
- Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (GB)
- Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
- University College London (GB)
- Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Pharmacogenomics Journal
- Published
- 2026-01-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41397-025-00394-x
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Pharmacogenetics and Drug Metabolism
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 52.25