Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of participants in the PGRID study classified as having High Genetic Numeracy (HGN), Moderate Genetic Numeracy (MGN), and Low Genetic Numeracy (LGN).
| LGN (N = 427) | MGN (N = 2060) | HGN (N = 82) | Overall sample (N = 2659) | χ2 (Bonferroni corrected, p* = 0.017) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16.6% | 80.22% | 3.18% | |||
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 65% | 64% | 73%** | 64% | 0.219 |
| Average age (σ) | 23.2 (6.37) | 23.4 (6.69) | 22.6 (4.06) | 23.4 (6.56) | |
| Ethnicity | 0.002* | ||||
| White | 60% | 67% | 71% | 66% | |
| Hispanic/Latino | 25%** | 18%** | 9%** | 19% | |
| Other | 15% | 14% | 18% | 15% | |
| Marital status | 0.780 | ||||
| Single | 54% | 52% | 37% | 52% | |
| Religion | 0.004* | ||||
| Agnostic/atheist/none | 15% | 18% | 26% | 18% | |
| Catholicism | 30%** | 25%** | 15%** | 25% | |
| Protestant | 49% | 50% | 46% | 50% | |
| Others | 6% | 7% | 13%** | 7% | |
| Extent religious or spiritual | 0.724 | ||||
| Not at all | 9% | 11% | 16% | 11% | |
| Slightly | 27% | 26% | 23% | 26% | |
| Moderately | 42% | 40% | 39% | 40% | |
| Very | 22% | 23% | 22% | 23% | |
| Weekly attendance at religious services | 0.013* | ||||
| 0 | 42% | 46% | 56%** | 46% | |
| 1 | 43% | 36% | 32%** | 36% | |
| 2–4 | 13% | 16%** | 11% | 16% | |
| 5+ | 3%** | 2% | 1% | 2% | |
| Educational status | 0.017* | ||||
| Undergraduate | 68% | 68% | 68% | 68% | |
| Graduate | 25% | 25% | 30%** | 25% | |
| Others | 7% | 7% | 2%** | 7% | |
| Enrolled in a Biological Sciences degree | |||||
| Yes | 5%** | 20%** | 50%** | 19% | 0.000* |
| Taken a genetics course | |||||
| Yes | 6%** | 19%** | 54%** | 18% | 0.000* |
| Taken a course with genetic info | |||||
| Yes | 71% | 86%** | 94%** | 84% | 0.000* |
| Charted your family tree | |||||
| Yes | 45% | 50%** | 38%** | 49% | 0.021 |
| Charted your family health history | |||||
| Yes | 36% | 39% | 46%** | 39% | 0.144 |
| Taken a genetic test | |||||
| Yes | 7%** | 6% | 4%** | 6% | 0.294 |
| Read about genetics—Internet | 0.001** | ||||
| Never | 36% | 22%** | 6%** | 24% | |
| Not very often | 37%** | 34% | 34% | 34% | |
| Not often | 15% | 24%** | 18% | 23% | |
| Often | 10% | 16% | 26% | 15% | |
| Very often | 2% | 4% | 16% | 4% | |
| Read about genetics—newspapers | 0.001*** | ||||
| Never | 51%** | 35%** | 16%** | 37% | |
| Not very often | 33% | 37%** | 37%** | 37% | |
| Not often | 12%** | 21%** | 30%** | 20% | |
| Often | 3% | 6% | 11%** | 6% | |
| Very often | 1% | 1% | 5% | 1% | |
| Read about genetics—magazines | 0.001*** | ||||
| Never | 43%** | 30%** | 15%** | 32% | |
| Not very often | 36% | 36% | 26%** | 36% | |
| Not often | 13%** | 22%** | 39%** | 21% | |
| Often | 6% | 10%** | 15%** | 9% | |
| Very often | 1% | 2% | 6% | 2% | |
| Read about genetics—non-fiction book | 0.001*** | ||||
| Never | 55%** | 38%** | 22%** | 41% | |
| Not very often | 25% | 31%** | 27%** | 30% | |
| Not often | 14% | 20%** | 28%** | 19% | |
| Often | 4%** | 8%** | 17%** | 7% | |
| Very often | 2% | 2% | 6%** | 2% | |
| Heard about genetics—TV | 0.002* | ||||
| Never | 11% | 8%** | 2%** | 8% | |
| Not very often | 34%** | 27% | 26%** | 28% | |
| Not often | 27%** | 33% | 34%** | 32% | |
| Often | 22%** | 26% | 30%** | 26% | |
| Very often | 5% | 5% | 8%** | 6% | |
| Heard about genetics—radio | 0.018 | ||||
| Never | 47% | 40% | 31% | 41% | |
| Not very often | 28% | 34% | 41% | 34% | |
| Not often | 17% | 19% | 20% | 19% | |
| Often | 6% | 6% | 4% | 6% | |
| Very often | 1% | 1% | 4% | 1% | |
| Talked about genetics—friends | 0.001*** | ||||
| Never | 25%** | 17%** | 9%** | 18% | |
| Not very often | 34% | 32% | 25%** | 32% | |
| Not often | 27% | 32%** | 25% | 30% | |
| Often | 11%** | 16% | 15% | 15% | |
| Very often | 3% | 4% | 15%** | 4% | |
| Talked about genetics—relatives | 0.001*** | ||||
| Never | 26%** | 17%** | 12%** | 18% | |
| Not very often | 28% | 28% | 21%** | 28% | |
| Not Often | 29% | 32%** | 27% | 32% | |
| Often | 13%** | 19%** | 29%** | 18% | |
| Very Often | 3% | 4% | 11%** | 4% | |
| Talked about genetics—physicians | 0.004* | ||||
| Never | 42%** | 36%** | 26%** | 36% | |
| Not very often | 24%** | 30%** | 32%** | 29% | |
| Not often | 20% | 23%** | 20% | 22% | |
| Often | 12%** | 10% | 20%** | 10% | |
| Very often | 2% | 2% | 4%** | 2% | |
| Talked about genetics—other health professionals | 0.216 | ||||
| Never | 60% | 58% | 55% | 58% | |
| Not very often | 20% | 22% | 26% | 22% | |
| Not often | 12% | 14% | 15% | 14% | |
| Often | 6% | 5% | 1% | 5% | |
| Very often | 1% | 1% | 4% | 1% |
*is significant at the .05 level.
**Indicates statistical significance via the Marascuilo Procedure.
***is significant at the .01 level.