Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing

Objective: To audit the clinical indications for HFE gene mutation testing in a consecutive series of requests.Design: Retrospective audit of reasons prompting 187 HFE test requests received between June 2003 and June 2005, by examination of the request form, hospital notes (when available) and, whe...

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Main Authors: Gillett, M., Marmotte, Cyril, Ravine, D., Vasikaran, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Australian Medical Association 2007
Online Access:http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_06_170907/gil11340_fm.html
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32848
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author Gillett, M.
Marmotte, Cyril
Ravine, D.
Vasikaran, S.
author_facet Gillett, M.
Marmotte, Cyril
Ravine, D.
Vasikaran, S.
author_sort Gillett, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Objective: To audit the clinical indications for HFE gene mutation testing in a consecutive series of requests.Design: Retrospective audit of reasons prompting 187 HFE test requests received between June 2003 and June 2005, by examination of the request form, hospital notes (when available) and, when required, information from the referring doctor.Setting: A tertiary care public teaching hospital laboratory, Perth, Western Australia.Main outcome measures: Reasons prompting requests for HFE genotype testing and compliance with accepted clinical indications (biochemical evidence of iron overload on repeated samples, or a first-degree relative with either haemochromatosis or a C282Y mutation).Results: Insufficient clinical details in requests prevented the inclusion of interpretive comments in HFE genotype reports in 70 of 187 cases (37%). Re-evaluation after collation of the missing details for all but seven requests revealed that 103 of the 180 auditable requests (57%) had been prompted for reasons other than biochemical evidence of iron accumulation or family history.Conclusions: A substantial proportion of HFE genotype test requests are made for inappropriate reasons. Clinical practice could be improved by educating doctors on the practical utility of this genetic test and by laboratories taking steps to secure the clinical information needed to include appropriate interpretive comments in their reports.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-328482017-01-30T13:33:31Z Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing Gillett, M. Marmotte, Cyril Ravine, D. Vasikaran, S. Objective: To audit the clinical indications for HFE gene mutation testing in a consecutive series of requests.Design: Retrospective audit of reasons prompting 187 HFE test requests received between June 2003 and June 2005, by examination of the request form, hospital notes (when available) and, when required, information from the referring doctor.Setting: A tertiary care public teaching hospital laboratory, Perth, Western Australia.Main outcome measures: Reasons prompting requests for HFE genotype testing and compliance with accepted clinical indications (biochemical evidence of iron overload on repeated samples, or a first-degree relative with either haemochromatosis or a C282Y mutation).Results: Insufficient clinical details in requests prevented the inclusion of interpretive comments in HFE genotype reports in 70 of 187 cases (37%). Re-evaluation after collation of the missing details for all but seven requests revealed that 103 of the 180 auditable requests (57%) had been prompted for reasons other than biochemical evidence of iron accumulation or family history.Conclusions: A substantial proportion of HFE genotype test requests are made for inappropriate reasons. Clinical practice could be improved by educating doctors on the practical utility of this genetic test and by laboratories taking steps to secure the clinical information needed to include appropriate interpretive comments in their reports. 2007 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32848 http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_06_170907/gil11340_fm.html Australian Medical Association restricted
spellingShingle Gillett, M.
Marmotte, Cyril
Ravine, D.
Vasikaran, S.
Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing
title Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing
title_full Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing
title_fullStr Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing
title_full_unstemmed Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing
title_short Directions for clinical practice improvement in HFE gene mutation testing
title_sort directions for clinical practice improvement in hfe gene mutation testing
url http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_06_170907/gil11340_fm.html
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32848