Effectiveness of receiving genetic risk information for cardiovascular disease on health behaviors, psychological responses, and associated risk factor modification in individuals: a systematic review protocol.

Abstract

This review aims to assess the effectiveness of receiving genetic risk information for cardiovascular disease (CVD) on individual health behaviors, psychological responses, and risk factor modification. Advancements in genomics have identified strong genetic predispositions for CVD, leading to the development of CVD genetic risk information. Integrating genetic risk information into clinical practice shows promise in predicting CVD risk and facilitating multifactorial management. This review will focus on randomized controlled trials assessing individual responses to CVD genetic risk information. Participants will be adults aged 18 and older, both with and without CVD. The review will compare the effectiveness of receiving genetic risk information with receiving traditional risk information or no risk information, assessing outcomes such as health behaviors, psychological responses, and risk factor modification. Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and Emcare will be searched for relevant studies. Current or unpublished trials will be searched for in Clinical-Trials.gov and World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. Articles will be screened and assessed for inclusion by 2 independent reviewers. Methodological quality will be assessed using the standardized instrument from JBI. Data will be extracted and synthesized for the objectives of the study. If data are sufficient, a meta-analysis will be conducted; otherwise, the findings will be presented in narrative format, including tables and figures to aid in presentation. The certainty of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. PROSPERO CRD42023390876.