Participant-guided development of bilingual genomic educational infographics for Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Phase IV study

The development and evaluation of polygenic risk score reports: A systematized review of the literature

PURPOSE

The return of polygenic risk scores (PGS) is currently being assessed in research settings for clinical utility and validity, and it is anticipated that PGS will soon be implemented in a clinical setting. There are limited guidelines regarding PGS communication and reporting; thus, there is a need to identify and analyze the current research to determine the most acceptable means of presenting PGS results through reports. The aim of this review is to examine the literature regarding the development and evaluation of PGS communication tools, including risk reports, visual aids, and online tools.

METHODS

Research studies that evaluated preferences, understanding or interpretation of PGS through a report, visual aid, or tool were included. The search strategy was applied to MEDLINE (via Ovid) and American Psychological Association PsychInfo.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The presentation of PGS differed across studies, including icon arrays and bell curves for visual presentation and absolute risk, relative risk, and genetic risk score for numerical presentation. Participants' understanding of PGS differed between studies. Studies supported using absolute risk and avoiding stigmatizing colors to communicate results.

CONCLUSION

To support PGS clinical implementation, the development of an evidence-based PGS report evaluated by consumers and various health care professionals is needed.

Designing visual hierarchies for the communication of health data

OBJECTIVES

Visual hierarchy underlies all visual design decisions related to information presentation. This manuscript describes the experience of a multidisciplinary health data visualization and software design team in using visual hierarchy to redesign a hereditary colorectal cancer lab report.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A series of interviews with representative users were conducted to identify target user groups and determine information hierarchy for each user type. Visual elements (eg, size, color, contrast, etc.) were then assigned to mirror the information hierarchy and workflow for each user type.

RESULTS

User research identified 2 distinct user groups as consumers of the redesigned lab report. An interactive design employing a 2-level page hierarchy was developed, which stratified the content to support the needs of each user type.

CONCLUSIONS

The challenges related to displaying the complex nature of digital and personal health data can be addressed by applying foundational design methods such as visual hierarchy.

DISCUSSION

Visual hierarchy, a foundational design principle, can be used by visualization teams to clearly and efficiently present complex datasets associated with healthcare.