TABLE 2.
Students’ knowledge about rare diseases.
| N (%) |
Comparison between groups p |
|||||
| Nursing students | Physiotherapy students | Medical students | NS vs. PS | NS vs. MS | PS vs. MS | |
| Have you ever heard the term “rare diseases”? | ||||||
| Yes | 107 (94.7) | 171 (98.8) | 365 (99.2) | 0.04 | 0.005 | ns |
| No | 6 (5.3) | 2 (1.2) | 3 (0.8) | |||
| Rare disease is the one that affects less than: | ||||||
| 1 person in 1,000 | 17 (15) | 31 (17.9) | 25 (6.8) | |||
| 1 person in 2,000 | 8 (7.1) | 11 (6.4) | 43 (11.7) | ns | ns | 0.04 |
| 1 person in 3,000 | 1 (0.9) | 4 (2.3) | 11 (3) | |||
| 1 person in 5,000 | 5 (4.4) | 23 (13.3) | 12 (3.2) | |||
| 1 person in 10,000 | 52 (46) | 92 (53.2) | 213 (57.9) | |||
| I do not know | 30 (26.6) | 12 (6.9) | 64 (17.4) | |||
| What is the estimated number of rare diseases? | ||||||
| 100–500 | 17 (15) | 24 (13.9) | 27 (7.3) | |||
| 1,000–2,000 | 37 (32.7) | 50 (28.9) | 52 (14.1) | |||
| 3,000–5,000 | 14 (12.4) | 33 (19.1) | 49 (13.3) | |||
| 6,000–8,000 | 7 (6.2) | 24 (13.9) | 40 (10.9) | 0.03 | ns | ns |
| 9,000–10,000 | 6 (5.3) | 11 (6.3) | 19 (5.2) | |||
| Over 10,000 | 9 (8) | 18 (10.4) | 126 (34.2) | |||
| I do not know | 23 (20.4) | 13 (7.5) | 55 (15) | |||
| At what age group do rare diseases most frequently appear? | ||||||
| Newborns | 29 (25.7) | 54 (31.2) | 172 (46.7) | |||
| Children | 42 (37.2) | 63 (36.4) | 99 (26.9) | ns | 0.04 | ns |
| Adolescents | 3 (2.6) | 6 (3.5) | 10 (2.7) | |||
| Adults | 6 (5.3) | 7 (4) | 8 (2.2) | |||
| They are present in all age groups equally | 21 (18.6) | 38 (22) | 40 (10.9) | |||
| I do not know | 12 (10.6) | 5 (2.9) | 39 (10.6) | |||
| How many people suffer from rare diseases worldwide? | ||||||
| 10–15,000,000 | 23 (20.3) | 27 (15.6) | 66 (17.9) | |||
| 50–75,000,000 | 35 (31) | 38 (22) | 68 (18.5) | |||
| 100–150,000,000 | 15 (13.3) | 51 (29.5) | 76 (20.7) | |||
| 200–250,000,000 | 5 (4.4) | 16 (9.2) | 32 (8.7) | |||
| 300–350,000,000 | 7 (6.2) | 25 (14.4) | 35 (9.5) | 0.02 | ns | ns |
| Over 500,000,000 | 1 (0.9) | 1 (0.6) | 28 (7.6) | |||
| I do not know | 27 (23.9) | 15 (8.7) | 63 (17.1) | |||
| How many people suffer from rare diseases in Poland? | ||||||
| 500–1,000 | 22 (19.5) | 17 (9.8) | 24 (6.5) | |||
| 10–15,000 | 28 (24.8) | 43 (24.9) | 72 (19.6) | |||
| 50–75,000 | 17 (15.1) | 37 (21.4) | 61 (16.6) | |||
| 100–150,000 | 11 (9.7) | 24 (13.9) | 67 (18.2) | |||
| 300–500,000 | 5 (4.4) | 17 (9.8) | 56 (15.2) | |||
| 1 000 000 | 2 (1.8) | 3 (1.7) | 6 (1.6) | |||
| 2–3,000,000 | 4 (3.5) | 24 (13.9) | 18 (4.9) | 0.002 | ns | 0 |
| Over 5,000,000 | 0 | 0 | 6 (1.6) | |||
| I do not know | 24 (21.2) | 8 (4.6) | 59 (16) | |||
| What is the most common cause of rare diseases? | ||||||
| Infectious and bacterial | 5 (4.4) | 12 (6.9) | 2 (0.5) | |||
| Genetic | 67 (59.3) | 116 (67) | 330 (89.6) | ns | 0 | 0 |
| Autoimmune | 26 (23) | 36 (20.8) | 13 (3.5) | |||
| Mitochondrial | 3 (2.7) | 7 (4) | 4 (1.1) | |||
| Environmental | 1 (0.9) | 4 (2.3) | 2 (0.5) | |||
| I do not know | 11 (9.7) | 16 (4.6) | 17 (4.6) | |||
| What percentage of rare diseases are of genetic origin? | ||||||
| 5–10% | 19 (16.8) | 17 (9.8) | 11 (3) | |||
| 20% | 27 (23.9) | 50 (28.9) | 54 (14.7) | |||
| 50% | 28 (24.8) | 48 (27.7) | 135 (36.7) | |||
| 80% | 30 (26.5) | 52 (30.1) | 131 (35.6) | ns | ns | ns |
| 100% | 0 | 1 (0.6) | 18 (4.9) | |||
| I do not know | 9 (8) | 5 (2.9) | 19 (5.1) | |||
Correct answers are written in boldface.