Includes bibliographical references / The burgeoning knowledge in genetics implies that genetic services (including clinical and counselling) will be in increasing demand in the future. This study investigated South African doctors' genetic education, knowledge and attitudes towards genetic services and examined whether these factors affect referral to genetic services. Several studies have indicated that health professionals have poor understanding of genetics and genetic conditions, and this lack of insight extends to knowledge of genetic services and how and when to access them, so that those who would benefit from services might not gain access to them because they are not referred by their doctors (Delikurt et al., 2015). METHODS: A questionnaire was developed based on published research and questions relating to the aims of the project. Forty-one questions were asked, covering referral patterns, demographics, education, knowledge and attitudes to genetic services and genetic counselling. The sample population consisted of 140 GPs attending a family practitioners' conference. Fifty-one responses were received. Results were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis of open-ended questions. RESULTS: Results show that 52.9% of general practitioners have referred to genetics in the past, 92.2% think they will refer in future and only 49% know how to access genetic services. Doctors who knew how to access genetic services were more likely to have previously referred patients to these services. Almost half the doctors who had not used genetic services previously felt that genetic services were difficult to access and several attributed this to their lack of knowledge. Doctors who had the most education were more likely to have previously referred patients to genetic services. Doctors indicated that they would like more education on basic genetics, common genetic conditions and genetic services via forums such as conferences, CME activities and online resources. More than half of the doctors rated themselves as "not confident" in their genetic knowledge. Down syndrome was the most commonly seen genetic condition in practice, followed by cystic fibrosis and breast cancer. More than 80% of respondents did not know about direct-to-consumer testing, but 46% thought they might be approached to interpret the results of a direct-to-consumer test in future. Doctors showed poor understanding of the ethics of testing minors for genetic conditions. Genetic services and genetic counselling were seen as indispensable by 66.7% and 74.5% of doctors respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, doctors' knowledge of genetics seems poor and most of them indicate they would like more education on basic genetic concepts, referral guidelines for genetic services and how to access genetic services, which agrees with the amount of education being the most important factor relating to previous referral to genetic services. This study will provide guidance for awareness and education programmes, and inform the future development of genetic services in South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/16487 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Düsterwald, Gillian |
| Contributors | Wessels, Tina, Greenberg, Jacquie |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences, Division of Human Genetics |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MSc (Med) |
| Format | application/pdf |
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