Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog

Objective To clarify the performance of polygenic risk scores in population screening, individual risk prediction, and population risk stratification.Design Secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog.Setting Polygenic Score Catalog, April 2022. Secondary analysis of 3915 performance m...

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Main Authors: Harry Hemingway, Riyaz Patel, Joan K Morris, Aroon D Hingorani, Reecha Sofat, Claudia Langenberg, Nicholas J Wald, Valerie Kuan, Chris Finan, Jasmine Gratton, A Floriaan Schmidt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2023-07-01
Series:BMJ Medicine
Online Access:https://bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000554.full
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author Harry Hemingway
Riyaz Patel
Joan K Morris
Aroon D Hingorani
Reecha Sofat
Claudia Langenberg
Nicholas J Wald
Valerie Kuan
Chris Finan
Jasmine Gratton
A Floriaan Schmidt
author_facet Harry Hemingway
Riyaz Patel
Joan K Morris
Aroon D Hingorani
Reecha Sofat
Claudia Langenberg
Nicholas J Wald
Valerie Kuan
Chris Finan
Jasmine Gratton
A Floriaan Schmidt
author_sort Harry Hemingway
collection DOAJ
description Objective To clarify the performance of polygenic risk scores in population screening, individual risk prediction, and population risk stratification.Design Secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog.Setting Polygenic Score Catalog, April 2022. Secondary analysis of 3915 performance metric estimates for 926 polygenic risk scores for 310 diseases to generate estimates of performance in population screening, individual risk, and population risk stratification.Participants Individuals contributing to the published studies in the Polygenic Score Catalog.Main outcome measures Detection rate for a 5% false positive rate (DR5) and the population odds of becoming affected given a positive result; individual odds of becoming affected for a person with a particular polygenic score; and odds of becoming affected for groups of individuals in different portions of a polygenic risk score distribution. Coronary artery disease and breast cancer were used as illustrative examples.Results For performance in population screening, median DR5 for all polygenic risk scores and all diseases studied was 11% (interquartile range 8-18%). Median DR5 was 12% (9-19%) for polygenic risk scores for coronary artery disease and 10% (9-12%) for breast cancer. The population odds of becoming affected given a positive results were 1:8 for coronary artery disease and 1:21 for breast cancer, with background 10 year odds of 1:19 and 1:41, respectively, which are typical for these diseases at age 50. For individual risk prediction, the corresponding 10 year odds of becoming affected for individuals aged 50 with a polygenic risk score at the 2.5th, 25th, 75th, and 97.5th centiles were 1:54, 1:29, 1:15, and 1:8 for coronary artery disease and 1:91, 1:56, 1:34, and 1:21 for breast cancer. In terms of population risk stratification, at age 50, the risk of coronary artery disease was divided into five groups, with 10 year odds of 1:41 and 1:11 for the lowest and highest quintile groups, respectively. The 10 year odds was 1:7 for the upper 2.5% of the polygenic risk score distribution for coronary artery disease, a group that contributed 7% of cases. The corresponding estimates for breast cancer were 1:72 and 1:26 for the lowest and highest quintile groups, and 1:19 for the upper 2.5% of the distribution, which contributed 6% of cases.Conclusion Polygenic risk scores performed poorly in population screening, individual risk prediction, and population risk stratification. Strong claims about the effect of polygenic risk scores on healthcare seem to be disproportionate to their performance.
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spelling doaj-art-c69e54411b7f40da9fe90317bc2b73ca2025-08-20T03:09:54ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Medicine2754-04132023-07-012110.1136/bmjmed-2023-000554Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score CatalogHarry Hemingway0Riyaz Patel1Joan K Morris2Aroon D Hingorani3Reecha Sofat4Claudia Langenberg5Nicholas J Wald6Valerie Kuan7Chris Finan8Jasmine Gratton9A Floriaan Schmidt10University College London, London, UK1 Department of Cardiology, Barts Heart Centre, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UKPopulation Health Research Institute, City St George`s University of London, London, UKHealth Data Research UK, London, UKHealth Data Research UK, London, UKPrecision Healthcare University Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UKInstitute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, UKInstitute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, London, UKInstitute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, London, UKInstitute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, London, UKInstitute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, London, UKObjective To clarify the performance of polygenic risk scores in population screening, individual risk prediction, and population risk stratification.Design Secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog.Setting Polygenic Score Catalog, April 2022. Secondary analysis of 3915 performance metric estimates for 926 polygenic risk scores for 310 diseases to generate estimates of performance in population screening, individual risk, and population risk stratification.Participants Individuals contributing to the published studies in the Polygenic Score Catalog.Main outcome measures Detection rate for a 5% false positive rate (DR5) and the population odds of becoming affected given a positive result; individual odds of becoming affected for a person with a particular polygenic score; and odds of becoming affected for groups of individuals in different portions of a polygenic risk score distribution. Coronary artery disease and breast cancer were used as illustrative examples.Results For performance in population screening, median DR5 for all polygenic risk scores and all diseases studied was 11% (interquartile range 8-18%). Median DR5 was 12% (9-19%) for polygenic risk scores for coronary artery disease and 10% (9-12%) for breast cancer. The population odds of becoming affected given a positive results were 1:8 for coronary artery disease and 1:21 for breast cancer, with background 10 year odds of 1:19 and 1:41, respectively, which are typical for these diseases at age 50. For individual risk prediction, the corresponding 10 year odds of becoming affected for individuals aged 50 with a polygenic risk score at the 2.5th, 25th, 75th, and 97.5th centiles were 1:54, 1:29, 1:15, and 1:8 for coronary artery disease and 1:91, 1:56, 1:34, and 1:21 for breast cancer. In terms of population risk stratification, at age 50, the risk of coronary artery disease was divided into five groups, with 10 year odds of 1:41 and 1:11 for the lowest and highest quintile groups, respectively. The 10 year odds was 1:7 for the upper 2.5% of the polygenic risk score distribution for coronary artery disease, a group that contributed 7% of cases. The corresponding estimates for breast cancer were 1:72 and 1:26 for the lowest and highest quintile groups, and 1:19 for the upper 2.5% of the distribution, which contributed 6% of cases.Conclusion Polygenic risk scores performed poorly in population screening, individual risk prediction, and population risk stratification. Strong claims about the effect of polygenic risk scores on healthcare seem to be disproportionate to their performance.https://bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000554.full
spellingShingle Harry Hemingway
Riyaz Patel
Joan K Morris
Aroon D Hingorani
Reecha Sofat
Claudia Langenberg
Nicholas J Wald
Valerie Kuan
Chris Finan
Jasmine Gratton
A Floriaan Schmidt
Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog
BMJ Medicine
title Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog
title_full Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog
title_fullStr Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog
title_full_unstemmed Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog
title_short Performance of polygenic risk scores in screening, prediction, and risk stratification: secondary analysis of data in the Polygenic Score Catalog
title_sort performance of polygenic risk scores in screening prediction and risk stratification secondary analysis of data in the polygenic score catalog
url https://bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000554.full
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