Schizophrenia Sensor

Schizophrenia is a long-term illness changing how a person thinks, feels and experiences reality. Schizophrenia Sensor analyses selected variants associated with predisposition and includes a pharmacogenetic component showing how inheritance may affect the action and tolerability of some treatment medicines. It does not diagnose disease or reliably predict whether someone will develop it, when it might begin or its severity.

Who the test is for

• you have schizophrenia and you and your psychiatrist want additional information about how your body may respond to medicines;
• your medicine is not effective enough or causes pronounced side effects;
• your psychiatrist recommended pharmacogenetic testing;
• you have an affected family member and want genetic-risk information while understanding the limitations.

What the test reveals

Schizophrenia has a strong inherited component, but hundreds of genes each with a small effect and environmental factors influence risk. The test has two parts.

• Genetic predisposition: according to the description, analysis of selected variants associated with predisposition. These variants have no proven clinical value for predicting onset age, symptoms, behaviour or severity.
• Medicines: the pharmacogenetic component shows how inheritance may affect the action and tolerability of some treatment medicines. Genes can affect drug breakdown and transport, the site of action and side-effect risk. A psychiatrist assesses this separately from predisposition for specific genes and medicines.

Individual common variants explain very little risk. Many carriers never develop disease, while many affected people do not carry them. The medicine component is therefore more useful for most people, particularly when starting or changing treatment. Read more in Pharmaco Sensor. Request the exact gene and variant list before testing.

The procedure and preparation

A buccal swab is taken by rubbing a stick several times inside the cheek. It is painless and takes a minute or two, with the visit usually taking around ten minutes. For 30 minutes beforehand, do not eat, drink anything except water, smoke or chew gum. Take medicines as usual. Genes do not change, so testing is performed only once.

What your result means

• Variants associated with higher risk: do not mean you will develop disease or that it is present. This is a small shift from the average.
• No risk variants: does not exclude disease because most inherited risk lies in genes not analysed.
• Medicine component: shows how inheritance might affect some medicines’ action and tolerability. A psychiatrist can consider it when choosing medicine and dose. Never change or stop medicines yourself.

A psychiatrist interprets results alongside examination, illness course and previous medicine experience. Free genetic counselling is also available.

Urgent: if you or someone close suddenly hears voices others do not hear, develops unusual beliefs or confusion, seek medical attention promptly. If there is a risk of self-harm or the person is unsafe, call 194 or 112 immediately.

How to arrange testing

No referral or appointment is needed: a nurse takes the swab at any branch (listed under Contact). Prices for all tests and panels are available in the price list.

Frequently asked questions

Is schizophrenia inherited?

Risk is higher in close relatives, but most children of parents with schizophrenia do not develop it. Disease arises through many genes and environmental factors together.

Can genetic testing predict schizophrenia?

Not reliably. It shows a small genetic predisposition, not whether disease will develop. A psychiatrist diagnoses through discussion, examination and monitoring.

What is the medicine component for?

Genes can affect drug breakdown and transport, site of action and side-effect risk, so the same dose may work less well in one person and cause more side effects in another. Results give a psychiatrist additional information but do not replace monitoring effects.

Can a child or adolescent be tested?

Decide with a doctor. In a healthy child, predisposition does not provide a reliable answer and may cause unnecessary concern. If a child has symptoms, assessment by a child psychiatrist matters more.