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Review
. 2023 Nov;11(11):e2245.
doi: 10.1002/mgg3.2245. Epub 2023 Aug 17.

Genomic testing in voluntary workplace wellness programs in the US: Evidence and challenges

Betty Cohn  1 , Kerry A Ryan  2 , Katherine Hendy  3 , Katherine Callahan  4 , J Scott Roberts  2   3 , Kayte Spector-Bagdady  5 , Debra J H Mathews  6 ; INSIGHT @ Work Consortium
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

Genomic testing in voluntary workplace wellness programs in the US: Evidence and challenges

Betty Cohn et al. Mol Genet Genomic Med. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Workplace genetic and/or genomic testing (wGT) is one of many options that employers can offer within the scope of voluntary workplace wellness programs, though we know little about how many employers are offering this benefit, or what kinds of testing are included.

Methods: Our landscaping review sought to discover the prevalence and distribution of wGT within voluntary wellness programs among U.S. companies using three approaches: (1) analysis of publicly available information; (2) national surveys; and (3) interviews with company representatives.

Results: In total, 50/420 (11.9%) companies we investigated had publicly available data suggesting that they offer wGT to their employees. Survey data weighted to be representative of the type and distribution of U.S. companies suggest that ~1% of U.S. companies offer wGT to their employees.

Conclusion: Our research found little evidence of broad uptake of wGT among U.S. companies, though information gathering was challenging.

Keywords: genetic testing; privacy; workplace wellness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Landscaping data set sampling sources. We collected data on 36 vendor identified companies, 104 hospital/hospital systems by state, and 280 Forbes list companies for a total of 420 companies.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Comparison of Mercer versus landscaping data across industry type. Variation in industry types represented in the data from the landscaping and Mercer surveys. The Mercer sample size was based on surveys completed by 1288 diverse U.S. companies. Companies were permitted to leave questions blank when completing the survey, leading to slightly different n's across questions.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Comparison of Mercer versus landscaping data across U.S. regions. Variation in headquarter location in data from the landscaping and Mercer surveys. The Mercer sample size was based on surveys completed by 1288 diverse U.S. companies. Companies were permitted to leave questions blank when completing the survey, leading to slightly different n's across questions.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Comparison of Mercer versus landscaping data across company size. Variation in the number of employees in the data from the landscaping and Mercer surveys. The Mercer sample size was based on surveys completed by 1288 diverse U.S. companies. Companies were permitted to leave questions blank when completing the survey, leading to slightly different n's across questions.
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References

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