Parents' attitudes towards research involving genome sequencing of their healthy children: a qualitative study.

With widespread genomic sequencing research efforts, there is increasing impetus to return results to participants. Parents of healthy children are increasingly asked to participate in genomic research, yet there are limited studies of parental expectations for the return of results amongst healthy children. We explored parental attitudes towards their healthy children's participation in genomic research and expectations for return of results. Data collection involved semi-structured telephone interviews with parents of healthy children participating in a primary care research network. Transcripts were analyzed thematically using constant comparison. A total of 26 parents were interviewed: 22 were female, 19 self-reported as White/European, and 20 were aged 30-39. Three themes emerged: (1) Reciprocity; Parents preferred to receive medically actionable, childhood-onset results and expected recontact overtime in exchange for their research participation. (2) Downstream impacts of testing; Parents expected future clinical benefits but were concerned about the risk of genetic discrimination. (3) Power and empowerment; Some parents felt empowered to take preventative action for their child and relatives, while others did not want to limit their child's autonomy. Considering these tensions may help to inform participant-centered approaches to optimize parental decision-making and participation, as well as maximize the utility of results.

Risk factors for suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among medical students: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Medical training poses significant challenge to medical student wellbeing. With the alarming trend of trainee burnout, mental illness, and suicide, previous studies have reported potential risk factors associated with suicidal behaviours among medical students. The objective of this study is to provide a systematic overview of risk factors for suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempt (SA) among medical students and summarize the overall risk associated with each risk factor using a meta-analytic approach. METHODS: Systemic search of six electronic databases including MEDLINE, Embase, Education Source, Scopus, PsycInfo, and CINAHL was performed from database inception to March 19, 2021. Studies reporting original quantitative or epidemiological data on risk factors associated with SI and SA among undergraduate medical students were included. When two or more studies reported outcome on the same risk factor, a random-effects inverse variance meta-analysis was performed to estimate the overall effect size. RESULTS: Of 4,053 articles identified, 25 studies were included. Twenty-two studies reported outcomes on SI risk factors only, and three studies on both SI and SA risk factors. Meta-analysis was performed on 25 SI risk factors and 4 SA risk factors. Poor mental health outcomes including depression (OR 6.87; 95% CI [4.80-9.82] for SI; OR 9.34 [4.18-20.90] for SA), burnout (OR 6.29 [2.05-19.30] for SI), comorbid mental illness (OR 5.08 [2.81-9.18] for SI), and stress (OR 3.72 [1.39-9.94] for SI) presented the strongest risk for SI and SA among medical students. Conversely, smoking cigarette (OR 1.92 [0.94-3.92]), family history of mental illness (OR 1.79 [0.86-3.74]) and suicidal behaviour (OR 1.38 [0.80-2.39]) were not significant risk factors for SI, while stress (OR 3.25 [0.59-17.90]), female (OR 3.20 [0.95-10.81]), and alcohol use (OR 1.41 [0.64-3.09]) were not significant risk factors for SA among medical students. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students face a number of personal, environmental, and academic challenges that may put them at risk for SI and SA. Additional research on individual risk factors is needed to construct effective suicide prevention programs in medical school.