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Pharmacogenetics and the print media: what is the public told?

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Medical Genomics, May 2015
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (81st percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (76th percentile)

Mentioned by

blogs
1 blog
twitter
2 X users

Citations

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21 Dimensions

Readers on

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41 Mendeley
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Title
Pharmacogenetics and the print media: what is the public told?
Published in
BMC Medical Genomics, May 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12881-015-0172-3
Pubmed ID
Authors

Basima Almomani, Ahmed F Hawwa, Nicola A Goodfellow, Jeffrey S Millership, James C McElnay

Abstract

Pharmacogenetics is a rapidly growing field that aims to identify the genes that influence drug response. This science can be used as a powerful tool to tailor drug treatment to the genetic makeup of individuals. The present study explores the coverage of the topic of pharmacogenetics and its potential benefit in personalised medicine by the UK newsprint media. The LexisNexis database was used to identify and retrieve full text articles from the 10 highest circulation national daily newspapers and their Sunday equivalents in the UK. Content analysis of newspaper articles which referenced pharmacogenetic testing was carried out. A second researcher coded a random sample (21%) of newspaper articles to establish the inter-rater reliability of coding. Of the 256 articles captured by the search terms, 96 articles (with pharmacogenetics as a major component) met the study inclusion criteria. The majority of articles over-stated the benefits of pharmacogenetic testing while paying less attention to the associated risks. Overall beneficial effects were mentioned 5.3 times more frequently than risks (p < 0.001). The most common illnesses for which pharmacogenetically based personalised medicine was discussed were cancer, cardiovascular disease and CNS diseases. Only 13% of newspaper articles that cited a specific scientific study mentioned this link in the article. There was a positive correlation between the size of the article and both the number of benefits and risks stated (P < 0.01). More comprehensive coverage of the area of personalised medicine within the print media is needed to inform public debate on the inclusion of pharmacogentic testing in routine practice.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 41 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 2%
Malaysia 1 2%
United States 1 2%
Unknown 38 93%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 7 17%
Researcher 7 17%
Student > Master 6 15%
Student > Ph. D. Student 4 10%
Unspecified 2 5%
Other 6 15%
Unknown 9 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 13 32%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 5 12%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 4 10%
Unspecified 2 5%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 2 5%
Other 4 10%
Unknown 11 27%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 June 2015.
All research outputs
#4,312,359
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from BMC Medical Genomics
#277
of 2,444 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#51,737
of 278,742 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Medical Genomics
#10
of 42 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,373,627 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,444 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.4. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 278,742 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 81% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 42 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 76% of its contemporaries.