Conocimientos sobre genética y actitudes sobre pruebas genéticas entre los internos rotativos de medicina de la universidad de cuenca. Cuenca-Azuay, 2021

Abstract

Background: Genetics has extensive applicability in medicine. However, health professionals have poor knowledge on the subject. At this point, undergraduate training in genetics is essential. Objective: To determine the knowledge about genetics and the attitudes about genetic testing of the Medical Rotational Interns of the Universidad de Cuenca. Methodology: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out with a sample of 153 Medical Rotational Interns. Sociodemographic factors, knowledge about genetics and attitudes about genetic testing were studied. The third version of the Survey on Knowledge and Attitudes in Genetics was applied. Percentages and frequencies were used for categorical variables. For continuous variables with normal distribution, means and standard deviations were used. The median and interquartile range were used for variables that did not meet this criterion. Statistical analysis was performed with IBM-SPSS v.23 and Microsoft Excel 2016. Results: A total of 153 Medical Rotational Interns were surveyed. The 51.0% corresponded to the September 2021-August 2022 Cohort. The 58.2% were female. The female between 22 and 25 years old were 85.0%. The 75.2% had a medium level of genetic knowledge, followed by low (15.0%) and high (9.8%) knowledge. Participants' attitudes were adequate in relation to the application of genetics, conventional medicine and biomedical research. Conclusions: The level of knowledge about genetics and the attitudes about genetic testing of the Medical Rotational Interns of the Universidad de Cuenca were medium and adequate, respectively.