Abstract
Knowledge of genetics is crucial for understanding genetic and genomic tests and for interpreting personal genomic information. Despite this relevance, no data are available about the level of knowledge of genetics in an Ecuadorian population. This investigation sought to survey such knowledge in undergraduate students affiliated with private and public institutions in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. A total of 350 individuals responded to a validated questionnaire measuring knowledge of genetics. Scores ranged from 45% to 87% (mean: 66.8%), and students achieved slightly better results when asked about genetics and diseases (mean score: 68.3%) than when asked about genetic facts (mean score: 64.9%). Additionally, no significant differences in performance were found among students from private and public institutions. Surprisingly, the lower score obtained (45%) was from a question about how chromosomes are passed to the next generation. The highly educated status of the surveyed population could explain the overall adequate results; nonetheless, the possibility that the correct responses were given by chance cannot be ignored. Therefore, the actual knowledge of genetics among the participants might be less than that revealed by the percentages of correct answers. Consequently, to achieve the goal of ensuring informed decision-making concerning genetic and genomic tests, it seems evident that the national education programs of Ecuador require improvement in teaching of genetic concepts.
Highlights
Genetic and genomic testing have transformed our understanding of our health, personal well-being and recreational consumerism
In this research, we present the data gathered as a reference study outlining the knowledge of genetics in undergraduate students
What percentage of correct answers is “adequate” in the chosen instrument? Is there a reference value in the original instrument that can used to compare the results of this survey? (E.g. what minimum percentage of answers should the respondents answer correctly in order to have an adequate amount of knowledge?)
Summary
Genetic and genomic testing have transformed our understanding of our health, personal well-being and recreational consumerism. Access to pharmacogenomics, nutrigenomics, disease risk, ancestry and ethnicity tests, as well as access to sport genetic analyses, has become widespread in low- and middle-income countries Such genetic and genomic practices are carried out by health care institutions and, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests are available on the internet (Covolo et al, 2015; Phillips, 2016). This study provides a glimpse of student perspectives toward genetics and the relation of genetics to disease in a relatively highly educated population based in a developing country. This investigation represents one of the first steps required for building the appropriate strategies to comprehensively assess knowledge of genetics and to increase the level of genetic literacy in the region.
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