What is the clinical utility of genetic testing?

Abstract

Evidence-based guidelines on the use of genetic tests in clinical practice require a systematic assessment of their usefulness, which, following a commonly used framework proposed in 1998 by a U.S. Task Force on Genetic Testing, is commonly referred to as clinical utility.1 Clinical utility in its narrowest sense refers to the ability of a screening or diagnostic test to prevent or ameliorate adverse health outcomes such as mortality, morbidity, or disability through the adoption of efficacious treatments conditioned on test results.