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Table 8 Students’ awareness and opinion regarding the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI)

From: Perceptions of students in health and molecular life sciences regarding pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine

 

Total

Faculty of Pharmacy

Faculty of Medicine

Genetics and Bioengineering

Faculty of Health Studies

Non- ML&HS

p*

Ethical

 Are you aware of the different ethical aspects of genetic testing?

  Yes

244 (45)a

90 (54)

50 (36)

28 (43)

17 (27)

26 (30)

< 0.01

  No

155 (29)

32 (19)

60 (43)

22 (34)

32 (50)

33 (38)

  Not sure

139 (26)

44 (27)

30 (21)

15 (23)

15 (23)

27 (32)

 Total

538

166

140

65

64

86

 What ethical issues do you believe might be related to genetic or PG testing?

  Patient privacy

237 (46)

88 (40)

63 (34)

29 (38)

30 (41)

27 (29)

< 0.01

  Data confidentiality

91 (18)

82 (37)

56 (30)

14 (18)

13 (18)

8 (8)

  Racial issues

27 (5)

10 (5)

4 (3)

2 (3)

12 (17)

9 (10)

  Stigma

20 (4)

7(3)

17 (9)

3 (3)

  Incidental findings

47 (9)

21 (9)

21 (11)

9 (12)

9 (12)

8 (8)

  Other

93 (18)

14 (6)

24 (13)

21 (28)

9 (12)

39 (42)

 Total

515

222

185

75

73

94

Legal

 Are you worried about the possibility that the results of a PG test may be passed to unauthorized persons?

  Worried

238 (44)

71 (43)

69 (44)

30 (46)

24 (37)

44 (51)

1.0

  Not worried

190 (35)

65 (39)

60 (38)

24 (36)

21 (33)

20 (23)

  No opinion

112 (21)

30 (18)

29 (18)

12 (18)

19 (30)

22 (26)

 Total

540

166

158

66

64

86

 In case unfavorable test results should be disclosed, do you believe that you would be disadvantaged at work or job seeking?

  Yes

165 (31)

45 (27)

49 (31)

26 (39)

21 (35)

24 (28)

0.400

  No

219 (41)

86 (51)

71 (45)

17 (26)

15 (25)

30 (35)

  Not sure

152 (28)

38 (22)

38 (24)

23 (35)

24 (40)

32 (37)

 Total

536

169

158

66

60

86

Social

 In case of an unfavorable test result, do you believe you would feel “helpless” or “pessimistic”?

  Yes

174 (33)

63 (38)

40 (25)

26 (39)

18 (29)

27 (32)

0.170

  No

265 (49)

69 (42)

93 (58)

35 (53)

32 (52)

36 (42)

  Not sure

98 (18)

34 (20)

25 (16)

5 (8)

12 (19)

22 (26)

 Total

537

166

158

66

62

85

 In case of an unfavorable test result, do you believe you would feel “different” or “inadequate”?

  Yes

152 (28)

51 (31)

32 (20)

25 (38)

19 (31)

25 (30)

0.100

  No

268 (50)

84 (50)

95 (60)

32 (48)

27 (44)

30 (36)

  Not sure

115 (22)

31 (19)

31 (20)

9 (14)

15 (25)

29 (34)

 Total

535

166

158

66

61

84

  1. ML&HS, Molecular Life and Health Science
  2. *Chi-square test, Bonferroni-adjusted p values
  3. aPercentage (%)