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. 2011 Mar;2(1):1-11.
doi: 10.1007/s12687-010-0030-0. Epub 2010 Dec 4.

Confidence of primary care physicians in their ability to carry out basic medical genetic tasks-a European survey in five countries-Part 1

Irmgard Nippert  1 , Hilary J Harris, Claire Julian-Reynier, Ulf Kristoffersson, Leo P Ten Kate, Elizabeth Anionwu, Caroline Benjamin, Kirsty Challen, Jörg Schmidtke, R Peter Nippert, Rodney Harris
Affiliations

Confidence of primary care physicians in their ability to carry out basic medical genetic tasks-a European survey in five countries-Part 1

Irmgard Nippert et al. J Community Genet. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

Western health care systems are facing today increasing movement of genetic knowledge from research labs into clinical practice. This paper reports the results of a survey that addressed the confidence of primary care physicians in their ability to carry out basic medical genetic tasks. The survey was conducted in five countries (France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK). Stratified random samples were drawn from primary care physicians in the five countries representing a sampling frame of 139,579 physicians. Stepwise binary logistic regression procedures were performed to identify the predictor variables for self-reported confidence. Three thousand six hundred eighty-six physicians participated and filled out a self-administered questionnaire. The margin of error for accurate representation of each group of European general practitioners and specialists in the total sample is 2.9% for GP, 2.8% for obstetricians/gynaecologists (OB/GYN) and for paediatricians (PAED) 2.6% (95% confidence level). Confidence in their ability to carry out basic medical genetic tasks is low among participating primary care physicians: 44.2% are not confident, 36.5% somewhat confident, confident or very confident are 19.3%. In each country, those confident/very confident represent less than 33% of the participating physicians. Primary care physicians who report the lowest levels of confidence prove to be those least exposed to medical genetics information and training. Although there are significant differences in the way in which professional education is organised and practice is regulated across European countries, there is a need for a coordinated European effort to improve primary care physicians' background in medical genetics.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
GenEd study: sample size by country and speciality, percentages
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
GenEd study: confidence of primary care physicians carrying out basic medical genetic tasks by country
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
GenEd study: medical genetics training of primary care physicians
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
GenEd study: frequency of contact with patients with genetic conditions by speciality
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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