Table 2.
Means, standard deviations, medians and interquartile ranges of the responses regarding the attitudes towards genetic testing
| Items | Hungary | Slovakia | Czechia | Poland | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Q2 | IQR | Mean | SD | Q2 | IQR | Mean | SD | Q2 | IQR | Mean | SD | Q2 | IQR | |
| Personal benefits | ||||||||||||||||
| To prevent disease I would want to know my risk of getting certain diseases | 3.81 | 1.28 | 4 | 2 | 3.54 | 1.28 | 4 | 2 | 3.84 | 1.25 | 4 | 2 | 3.38 | 1.37 | 4 | 3 |
| I am curious about my genetic make-up | 3.66 | 1.36 | 4 | 2 | 3.34 | 1.22 | 3 | 1 | 3.46 | 1.2 | 4 | 1 | 3.36 | 1.37 | 3 | 3 |
| I do not want to know what kind of diseases I could get in the futurea | 3.44 | 1.41 | 4 | 3 | 3.34 | 1.24 | 3 | 1 | 3.51 | 1.24 | 4 | 2 | 3.39 | 1.37 | 3 | 3 |
| Knowing my risk of getting a serious disease, I would be able to control my life more | 3.66 | 1.26 | 4 | 2 | 3.38 | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 3.61 | 1.16 | 4 | 2 | 3.31 | 1.28 | 3 | 2 |
| Genetic determinism | ||||||||||||||||
| When people know their genetic make-up they will not be able to lead their own lives | 2.78 | 1.26 | 3 | 2 | 2.86 | 1.11 | 3 | 2 | 2.66 | 1.13 | 3 | 1 | 2.75 | 1.23 | 3 | 2 |
| When people know their genetic make-up they will take less responsibilities | 2.47 | 1.21 | 2 | 2 | 2.55 | 1.05 | 3 | 1 | 2.67 | 1.06 | 3 | 1 | 2.71 | 1.18 | 3 | 1 |
| People’s knowledge of their genetic make-up will decrease their self-confidence | 2.88 | 1.23 | 3 | 2 | 2.85 | 1.05 | 3 | 1 | 2.75 | 1.07 | 3 | 1 | 2.76 | 1.21 | 3 | 2 |
| Genetic tests deprive people’s freedom to live as they want | 2.59 | 1.3 | 3 | 3 | 2.87 | 1.13 | 3 | 1 | 2.72 | 1.15 | 3 | 1 | 2.85 | 1.28 | 3 | 2 |
| Availability and use of genetic tests | ||||||||||||||||
| The use of genetic tests among people should be stimulated | 3.26 | 1.24 | 3 | 1 | 2.83 | 0.98 | 3 | 1 | 3.49 | 1.09 | 3 | 1 | 3.22 | 1.18 | 3 | 1 |
| Genetic tests should be available for those who want to use them | 4.07 | 1.22 | 5 | 2 | 3.62 | 1.19 | 4 | 2 | 3.97 | 1.19 | 4 | 2 | 3.59 | 1.31 | 4 | 2 |
| More money should be available for the development of genetic tests | 3.98 | 1.16 | 4 | 2 | 3.36 | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 3.57 | 1.05 | 4 | 1 | 3.34 | 1.25 | 3 | 1 |
| Genetic tests should be offered to all pregnant women | 4.15 | 1.14 | 5 | 2 | 3.64 | 1.17 | 4 | 2 | 3.71 | 1.16 | 4 | 2 | 3.41 | 1.29 | 3 | 2 |
aIn the scale analyses the answers were recoded (1 = 5; 2 = 4; 4 = 2; 5 = 1). SD: Standard deviation; Q2: Median; IQR: Interquartile range