Knowledge and attitude toward genetic diseases and genetic tests among pre-marriage individuals: A cross-sectional study in northern Iran

Consanguineous marriages, premarital screening, and genetic testing: a survey among Saudi university students

Background

Marriage among cousins or close relatives, i.e., consanguinity, is prevalent in many parts of the world, especially the Muslim world. Across civilizations, cultural norms, religious beliefs, and economic factors affect consanguineous marriages (CMs); however, such marriages have social, genetic, and health repercussions. The present study investigated the university students' attitudes regarding CMs and factors influencing their attitudes at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Methods

This cross-sectional prospective study was conducted at KAU Jeddah in 2023. The questionnaire was distributed via electronic media (Emails, Facebook Messenger & WhatsApp). The convenience sampling technique was used to select participants, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data on SPSS-26.

Results

A total of 1707 university students were part of the study (females, 1,198, 70.2%; males, 509, 29.8%). Almost half of the participants, 819 (48.0%), had parents with CMs. Most of the participants, 1,391 (81.5%), had CMs in the family. Half of the participants disagreed that parents consider marriage stable due to high compatibility and the same social relationship before and after marriage. About one-third of respondents said parents believe family marriage transmits cultural values and continuity and keeps wealth in the family. More than three-fourths of the participants stated that if marriage is arranged with first cousins, they will opt for genetic analysis (82.5%) and premarital counseling (85.2%). The personal attitudes of females (p < 0.001), undergraduate (p = 0.02), and health sciences students (p = 0.02) were more positive than their counterparts. Males (OR = 0.41; p < 0.001) and non-health sciences students (OR = 0.68; p = 0.01) were less likely to have significant positive attitudes than their counterparts. Among participants who had CM parents, males (OR = 0.397; p < 0.001) and non-health sciences students (OR = 0.60; p = 0.01) and urban residents (OR = 0.59; p = 0.01) had significantly lower odds of having a positive attitude than their counterparts.

Conclusion

The practice of CMs is still prevalent in Saudi culture, with almost half of the participants having CM parents and the majority reporting these marriages in their families. Personal attitudes toward CMs were extremely positive. Most students prefer genetic testing and premarital counseling if marrying first cousins. Gender, faculty, parental income, and educational background influenced participants' attitudes.

Exploring Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Barriers to Using Genetic Services in Damanhur City and Beni-Suef City, Egypt: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Advancements in genetic disorder management mark a transformative era in healthcare. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and barriers to using genetic services among the Egyptian population.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was used to achieve the aim of the study. A convenient sample was used to involve 385 residents of Damanhur City and Beni-Suef City to represent Upper and Lower Egypt. A validated questionnaire covering socio-demographic details, genetic knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers to using genetic services was used.

RESULTS

Regarding genetic knowledge, 70.9% of the participants reported an unsatisfactory level of knowledge about genetics. Furthermore, 67.6% expressed a negative attitude toward genetic services. Concerns about whether the test result is positive were the most common obstacle, cited by 64.94% of participants, followed by cost, which 60.78% of people found to be a major barrier. Significant associations emerge between socio-demographic factors and awareness levels.

CONCLUSION

The findings illuminate significant gaps in knowledge and attitude levels where less than a third of the participants had a satisfactory level of knowledge and about one-third had a positive attitude regarding genetic testing. Barriers such as concerns about treatment strategies, financial constraints, and conflict with personal beliefs emerge as critical obstacles. The identified associations between socio-demographic factors and awareness levels underscore the need for targeted interventions tailored to specific demographic groups.

RECOMMENDATIONS

This study recommends developing and implementing culturally sensitive awareness campaigns about genetics tailored to the specific demographic characteristics of the Egyptian population.

Knowledge and attitudes regarding genetic testing among Jordanians: An approach towards genomic medicine

Background

The twenty first century can be called the genomic era referring to the rapid development of genetics, and the beginning of genomic medicine. An initial step towards genomic medicine is to evaluate the knowledge and attitude towards genetic testing among different populations. The aims of this study were to assess the genetic knowledge and attitude towards genetic testing among the Jordanian population and patients with immune diseases. In addition, we evaluated the association between knowledge, attitude and several demographic factors of the population.

Methods

This study was performed using an online questionnaire that was distributed to respondents from different regions of Jordan.

Results

A total of 1149 participants were recruited from the Jordanian population. Overall factual genetic knowledge of the participants was good (65.4%), with education level, working or studying in a health-related field and household average monthly income being significant predictors of factual knowledge scores (P = 0.03, P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). However, factual knowledge results revealed that scores of questions related to diseases were significantly higher than scores of gene-related scientific facts (P < 0.01). Participants of our study reported to have low perceived knowledge on medical uses (39.5%) and social consequences (23.9%) of genetic testing. Regarding the participants’ attitudes, favorable attitudes towards genetic testing were prevailing (91.5%). Favorable attitudes were more prominent among higher educated participants, and participants with higher scores of factual knowledge.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that our Jordanian-based study revealed a good level of genetic knowledge as well as a favorable attitude towards genetic testing, we realized an imbalance of knowledge between gene-related scientific facts and disease-related concepts as well as between factual and perceived genetic knowledge, which indicates the necessity of increasing the awareness about genetic testing in order to ensure that individuals can take informed decisions that help in the employment of personalized medicine.

Attitude and awareness of public towards genetic testing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The current study was designed to evaluate the attitude of the Saudi general population towards knowledge, perception and awareness about genetic testing. Using a convenience sampling technique, an online survey was used to collect the data. The survey consisted of 16 questions that covered basic demographics and several scenarios that assess subjects’ perceptions regarding genetic testing. Answering all questions was required for completing the survey. Among 333 subjects, 53.5% were male, 18.9% were married, and 99.4% were muslims. Around 75% has/will have a bachelor degree. About 59% were students. About 87% would consider genetic testing before marriage and similar percentage would not consider conceiving a child if the genetic screening indicated that there is 100% chance the child will be born with genetic disorder. Neither marital status (Single = 87.04%, married = 87.30% (P = 0.955)) nor gender (male = 85.96, female = 88.39 (P = 0.509)) affected the aforementioned decision. When subjects were asked if they would choose abortion knowing that the embryo has a severe genetic disorder, 62.7% answered yes. In general, 80.4% were willing to be recruited into a genetics study, married subjects were more reluctant to be recruited compared to singles (30% and 17% (P = 0.018) respectively). There was no difference between males and females in the decision of joining a genetic study. Also 78.4% supported creation of genetic disease database and family maps. 69.7% of the participants supported government enforcement of the genetic testing, 56.2% supported government-run facilities for Saudi citizens to have genetic tests. We conclude that married people were in favor of genetic testing than the single counterparts, secondly, single status people supported the idea of having genetic tests before their marriage they were supportive of the idea of the government taking a leading role in enforcing the genetic testing and creation of the genetic banks.

Knowledge, Awareness, and Perception of Genetic Testing for Hereditary Disorders Among Malaysians in Klang Valley

Genetic testing aids patients in making important decisions in the prevention, treatment, or early detection of hereditary disorders. Low awareness of the importance of genetic testing contributes to the increase in the incidence of hereditary disorders. This study aims to explore the knowledge, awareness, and perception of genetic testing for hereditary disorders among local residents of the Klang Valley, Malaysia, and the potential variables that influence their understanding of genetic testing. A survey was conducted in different municipalities of the Klang Valley through self-administered questionnaire assessing the public's knowledge, awareness, and perception of genetic testing. Overall, the results revealed adequate knowledge and positive awareness of genetic testing, in which both were influenced by the respondent's educational level (P < 0.001), field of study (P < 0.001), and status of heard or unheard of genetic testing (P < 0.001). The perception of genetic testing was generally positive and influenced by the respondent's differences in age (P < 0.016), educational level (P < 0.001), field of study (P < 0.001), and status of heard or unheard of genetic testing (P < 0.001). Although positive responses were obtained, ~20.2% of the respondents had never heard of genetic testing. Of the respondents, 24.5% were unwilling to undergo genetic testing, with 25.1% believing that genetic testing tampers with nature and 18% believing that it opposes religion and their beliefs. Such attitude calls for the need to conduct programs to eliminate any misconception, as well as to educate the public to lessen any perceived misunderstanding of the concepts of genetic testing.

Parental genetic knowledge and attitudes toward childhood genetic testing for inherited eye diseases

Background

This study aimed to explore the parental genetic knowledge and attitudes toward childhood genetic testing of the inherited eye diseases (IEDs) in China.

Methods

This is a cross‐sectional survey. All parents were assessed via self‐administered questionnaires. Data were collected through the Internet at the pediatric eye clinics in a tertiary referral eye hospital.

Results

In total, 359 parents were included into this survey. The proportion of correctly answered the factual genetic knowledge questionnaire ranged from 35.7% to 81.3%, which is positively correlated to the educational levels and household per capita income. The attitudes toward childhood IEDs genetic testing appeared to be consistent. More factual genetic knowledge was predictive for a favorable attitude toward genetic testing. Han Chinese might be slightly more likely to have a favorable attitude. Interestingly, the higher educational levels and lower monthly incomes were predictive factors for a reserved attitude toward genetic testing. The families without history of IEDs were more inclined to remain a reserved attitude than those with family history of IEDs.

Conclusion

This study illustrated that more factual genetic knowledge was considered as an indicator for the favorable attitudes. Therefore, the effective strategies should be taken to provide the correct knowledge of genetics and genetic testing to parents, especially those who need to make an informed decision thereon to undertake childhood genetic testing.