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. 2025 Jan 26;17(1):e78031.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.78031. eCollection 2025 Jan.

Readiness of Primary Healthcare Physicians for Providing Genetic Services

Abdulraheem A Almalki  1
Affiliations

Readiness of Primary Healthcare Physicians for Providing Genetic Services

Abdulraheem A Almalki. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background/objectives The primary healthcare system plays an important role in addressing the health needs of communities and preventing diseases. The system in Saudi Arabia is undergoing a major transformation under Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, with the main aim of increasing the efficiency and accessibility of health services to all members of the community. This reform provides an opportunity to revolutionize patient care by integrating genetic services. This study assesses the readiness of primary healthcare physicians in Saudi Arabia to provide genetic services, identifies possible impacts and barriers to integrating genetic services, and examines the willingness of physicians to undergo further training if required. Method A cross-sectional study of 31 primary healthcare physicians was conducted between May 2024 and September 2024 using a self-structured questionnaire. Results Most primary healthcare physicians considered that they had insufficient formal education and limited knowledge of genetics; thus, they lacked confidence in providing genetic services to patients. They reported that several barriers to integration existed, including practitioners' level of knowledge, the time required for each patient, the rarity of cases, and limited resources. Conclusion Despite the current knowledge gap, primary healthcare physicians recognized the value of genetic services and the need to integrate them into their practice and expressed interest in expanding their knowledge.

Keywords: genetics; genomic services; prevention; primary health care; public health care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Taif University Ethical Committee issued approval 45-219. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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