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Non-genetic physicians’ knowledge, attitudes and behavior towards medical genetics

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Summary

To examine the knowledge, behavior, and attitudes toward medical genetics among obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and neurology residents and specialists, who encounter the highest number of patients with specific genetic disorders, in their everyday practice. The cross-sectional study involved 182 nongenetic residents and specialists in the Republic of Croatia, who completed a validated online questionnaire anonymously and voluntarily. The questionnaire consisted of five groups of questions: general information, knowledge, behavior in practice, attitude toward genetic testing, and additional education in medical genetics. The median score for overall knowledge of medical genetics was 70.2% among obstetrician-gynecologists, 80.5% among pediatricians, and 76.7% among neurologists (P < 0.001, lowest median in obstetrician-gynecologists). When asked about their behavior in daily practice, around 90% of respondents admitted the possibility of not recognizing patients with genetic disorders, which is why more than 90% emphasized the need for additional education in medical genetics. In addition, the respondents showed a positive attitude toward genetic testing, but they did not feel educated enough to interpret the results of genetic testing. The results highlight the need for further genetic education of non-genetic health professionals, which would lead to greater confidence and ability to recognize patients with genetic disorders, select the appropriate genetic testing method and achieve more efficient communication with patients.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all non-genetic health professionals in the Republic of Croatia who participated in the study for their contribution to the research of the importance of genetic education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for genetic education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

    Tea Mladenić, Sanja Dević Pavlić, Saša Ostojić &  Nina Pereza MD, PhD

  2. Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

    Tea Mladenić, Sanja Dević Pavlić, Saša Ostojić &  Nina Pereza MD, PhD

  3. Department of Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

    Martina Mavrinac

  4. Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

    Anna Malnar, Matea Matić & Sara Mikić

Authors
  1. Tea Mladenić
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  8. Nina Pereza MD, PhD
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Contributions

T. Mladenić—study design, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing and revision. M. Mavrinac—study design, questionnaire development, data collection, analysis and interpretation, manuscript revision. S. Dević-Pavlić—study design, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing and revision. A. Malnar—data collection and analysis, manuscript revision. M. Matić—data collection and analysis, manuscript revision. S. Mikić—data collection and analysis, manuscript revision. S. Ostojić—questionnaire development, data interpretation, manuscript revision. N. Pereza—study design, questionnaire development, data collection and interpretation, manuscript writing and revision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nina Pereza MD, PhD.

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Conflict of interest

T. Mladenić, M. Mavrinac, S. Dević-Pavlić, A. Malnar, M. Matić, S. Mikić, S. Ostojić and N. Pereza declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical standards

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Biomedical Research of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka (KLASA: 003-08/20-01/150; URBROJ: 2170-24-04-3-20-2).

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Supplementary Information

Table 1: The knowledge about the role of genetic factors in medicine

Table 2: The knowledge about the course of a disease

Table 3: The knowledge about genetic testing

Table 4: The knowledge of the role of the physician in the care of a patient with a genetic disease

Table 5: The knowledge of the role of genetic factors in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and neurology

Table 6: The attitudes toward medical genetics of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and neurology residents and specialists

Questionnaire 1: Questionnaire assessing knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards medical genetics in obstetrics and gynaecology

Questionnaire 2: Questionnaire assessing knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards medical genetics in pediatrics

Questionnaire 3: Questionnaire assessing knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards medical genetics in neurology

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Mladenić, T., Mavrinac, M., Dević Pavlić, S. et al. Non-genetic physicians’ knowledge, attitudes and behavior towards medical genetics. Wien Klin Wochenschr 136, 137–145 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-023-02152-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-023-02152-0

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