| Pedigrees are traditionally constructed in person during an appointment with a genetic counselor or physician. The study evaluated the opinions of genetic counselors, physicians, and genetic counseling students regarding the possible utility of GenPed, an online pedigree tool designed by Maksim Khasin, a second year genetic counseling student. Participants (n=112) performed a task using the tool and completed an anonymous survey about its likelihood of use, perceived barriers, and potential benefits. It took an average of 12 minutes to complete the task. A majority of participants "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that the tool is easy to understand (77%), easy to use (69%), would provide more accurate information during the session (70%), could be used to identify at-risk patients (75%), make appropriate referrals to genetics and other services (74%), and make recommendations for preventative health behaviors (71%). Participants expressed concern that GenPed is too complicated and most suited for physicians. |
