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Genetic Knowledge Among Participants in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative
Author(s) -
Schmidlen Tara J.,
Scheinfeldt Laura,
Zhaoyang Ruixue,
Kasper Rachel,
Sweet Kevin,
Gordon Erynn S.,
Keller Margaret,
Stack Cathy,
Gharani Neda,
Daly Mary B.,
Jarvis Joseph,
Christman Michael F.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of genetic counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1573-3599
pISSN - 1059-7700
DOI - 10.1007/s10897-015-9883-z
Subject(s) - personalized medicine , genetic counseling , medicine , genetic testing , health literacy , family medicine , health care , human genetics , precision medicine , literacy , psychology , bioinformatics , genetics , biology , pathology , pedagogy , gene , economics , economic growth
Genetic literacy is essential for the effective integration of genomic information into healthcare; yet few recent studies have been conducted to assess the current state of this knowledge base. Participants in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC), a prospective study assessing the impact of personalized genetic risk reports for complex diseases and drug response on behavior and health outcomes, completed genetic knowledge questionnaires and other surveys through an online portal. To assess the association between genetic knowledge and genetic education background, multivariate linear regression was performed. 4 062 participants completed a genetic knowledge and genetic education background questionnaire. Most were older (mean age: 50), Caucasian (90 %), female (59 %), highly educated (69 % bachelor's or higher), with annual household income over $100 000 (49 %). Mean percent correct was 76 %. Controlling for demographics revealed that health care providers, participants previously exposed to genetics, and participants with ‘better than most’ self‐rated knowledge were significantly more likely to have a higher knowledge score ( p < 0.001). Overall, genetic knowledge was high with previous genetic education experience predictive of higher genetic knowledge score. Education is likely to improve genetic literacy, an important component to expanded use of genomics in personalized medicine.