The P5 Study - Genetic information for health support

The P5 Study invited all participants of the FinHealth 2017 Study to take part in a new research that aims to find out whether the study participants benefit from getting access to information related to their genome. The study surveys how the participants perceive the individual information they are provided with and how the received information affects their lifestyles and health behaviour. We also investigate how well a feedback website is suited on sharing of personal genetic information.

The FinHealth 2017 Study

The P5 Study utilises information, samples, and measurement results obtained in the FinHealth Study. Based on previous scientific studies, we will calculate the participants’ overall risk for developing coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes or deep vein thrombosis within the following ten years. You can find more information about these diseases from the following external websites:
Coronary artery (in Finnish)
Type 2 diabetes (in Finnish)
Deep vein thrombosis (in Finnish)

The implementation of the P5 Study

We will tell the participants their personal risk assessments using a MyP5 report located on a secure website. The participants can only view their own reports, which provide them with a clearly presented estimate based on genome data for their susceptibility to develop the diseases mentioned above.

The MyP5 website includes personal instructions on how the participants can influence their disease risk with their personal lifestyles. The website also includes instructions on whether the participant should contact a physician or other health care personnel. This is in most cases not necessary. The website also includes an “Instructions for physicians” text which participants can print out if they like. The instructions inform physicians and other health care providers how the risk information can be applied for each participant.

Collecting feedback from the participants at all research phases is an important part of the study. After the results have been included in the MyP5 report, the intention is that the participants fill out a questionnaire on how much they feel they were helped by the provided information and whether this was easy to understand at the MyP5 website. The questionnaire surveys are repeated around 3 months after giving the feedback on risks and once per year for a five-year period. The participants’ health data are followed in national registers according to the normal follow-up practice of the FinHealth 2017 Study.

We believe that this study will highlight the problem areas in providing genome data. These problems must be solved before introduction of this kind of anticipation of future diseases as part of health care can be considered. The study provides valuable information on introducing genetic data to health care.

The P5 Study is necessary for introducing genetic data to prevention of the diseases of public health

The title of the P5 Study comprises the words predictive, preventive, personalized, participatory, and population health. P4 medicine (the first 4 Ps) is a rising field of research and clinical medicine which puts the patient at the heart of the activities as an active participant. As the P5 Study is also concerned with the impacts on public health of P4 medicine, we have also added the fifth ‘P’ to our study.

The project is funded by Sitra and the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation.