Ascertainment and critical assessment of the views of the general public and healthcare professionals on nutrigenomics in Greece. (March 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pavlidis, Cristiana; Karamitri, Angeliki; Barakou, Aglaia; Cooper, David N; Poulas, Konstantinos; Topouzis, Stavros; Patrinos, George P
• Is Part Of: Personalized medicine. Volume 9:Number 2(2012)
• Page Start: 201
• Page End: 210
• Publication Date: 2012-03
• Subjects: dietitian -- education -- general public awareness -- general public opinion -- healthcare professionals -- healthcare professionals'' opinions -- nutrigenomics -- nutritional choices -- questionnaire; Pharmacogenomics -- Periodicals; Pharmacogenetics -- Periodicals; 615.19
• DOI: 10.2217/pme.12.3
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1741-0541

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to understand the general public''s and healthcare professionals'' views on nutrigenomics.Patients & methods: We designed a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals (n = 87) and the general public (n = 1504) in the three largest cities in Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras).Results: Our data revealed that only 11.5% of respondents from the general public had been advised to take a genetic test in order to explore the relationship between their genes and their nutritional status. Although 80.5% of healthcare professionals would have been willing to recommend their patients/clients to undergo nutrigenomic analysis to correlate their genetic profile with their diet, only 17.2% of respondents had actually done so. In general, the general public was opposed to direct-access nutrigenomics testing.Conclusion: The application of genomic information in the context of nutritional choice requires the continuing education of healthcare professionals and the dissemination of accurate and reliable information to the general public.