Are public health professionals prepared for public health genomics? A cross-sectional survey in Italy
| Autor: | Paola Santini, Antonio Boccia, Corrado De Vito, Maddalena D'Addario, Carolina Marzuillo, Elvira D’Andrea, Paolo Villari |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Health Knowledge Attitudes Practice medicine.medical_specialty Attitude of Health Personnel education Population health Health administration Public health professionals Professional Competence Predictive genetic testing Nursing Surveys and Questionnaires Health care Knowledge and attitudes medicine Humans Genetic Testing Public health genomics cross-sectional survey knowledge and attitudes predictive genetic testing public health genomics public health professionals training needs business.industry Health Policy Public health Training needs Genomics Middle Aged Public health informatics Cross-Sectional Studies Logistic Models Health promotion Italy Cross-sectional survey Family medicine Chronic Disease Female Health education Public Health business Research Article |
| Zdroj: | BMC Health Services Research |
| ISSN: | 1472-6963 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/1472-6963-14-239 |
| Popis: | Background Public health genomics is an emerging multidisciplinary approach, which aims to integrate genome-based knowledge in a responsible and effective way into public health. Despite several surveys performed to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and professional behaviors of physicians towards predictive genetic testing, similar surveys have not been carried out for public health practitioners. This study is the first to assess knowledge, attitudes and training needs of public health professionals in the field of predictive genetic testing for chronic diseases. Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to carry out a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of Italian public health professionals. Results A response rate of 67.4% (797 questionnaires) was achieved. Italian public health professionals have the necessary attitudinal background to contribute to the proper use of predictive genetic testing for chronic diseases, but they need additional training to increase their methodological knowledge. Knowledge significantly increases with exposure to predictive genetic testing during postgraduate training (odds ratio (OR) = 1.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05–2.88), time dedicated to continuing medical education (OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.14–2.04) and level of English language knowledge (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.07–1.72). Adequate knowledge is the strongest predictor of positive attitudes from a public health perspective (OR = 3.98, 95% CI = 2.44–6.50). Physicians show a lower level of knowledge and more public health attitudes than other public health professionals do. About 80% of public health professionals considered their knowledge inadequate and 86.0% believed that it should be improved through specific postgraduate training courses. Conclusions Specific and targeted training initiatives are needed to develop a skilled public health workforce competent in identifying genomic technology that is ready for use in population health and in modeling public health genomic programs and primary care services that need to be developed, implemented and evaluated. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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