Table 3. Frequency of the general opinion on RDs among the medical students and physicians.
| Characteristics |
n (%) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Students n = 338 |
Physicians n = 382 |
|
| Have you ever heard the term rare diseases or orphan drugs? | ||
| Rare diseases | 230 (68.1) | 186 (48.7) |
| Orphan drugs | 15 (4.4) | 30 (7.9) |
| Both | 45 (13.3) | 131 (34.3) |
| None of the above | 48 (14.2) | 35 (9.2) |
| Do you consider that there should be a subject about rare diseases in medical curricula? | ||
| Yes | 247 (73.1) | 178 (46.6) |
| No | 14 (4.1) | 64 (16.8) |
| Maybe | 77 (22.8) | 140 (36.7) |
| Have you ever been on a conference, course, or congress about rare diseases? | ||
| Yes | 31 (9.2) | 86 (22.5) |
| No | 307 (90.8) | 209 (77.5) |
| Do you consider rare diseases as a public health problem? | ||
| Yes | 220 (65.1) | 233 (61.0) |
| No | 118 (34.9) | 149 (39.0) |
| Do you consider that the government allocate a specific fund for rare diseases and orphan drugs? | ||
| Yes | 312 (92.3) | 308 (80.6) |
| No | 26 (7.7) | 74 (19.4) |
| Likert scale questions | ||
| Do you think is important for coverage of rare diseases by insurance systems? | ||
| Very Unimportant | 1 (0.3) | 7 (1.8) |
| Unimportant | 3 (0.9) | 12 (3.1) |
| Neutral | 30 (8.9) | 63 (16.5) |
| Important | 76 (22.5) | 110 (28.8) |
| Very Important | 228 (67.5) | 190 (49.7) |
| Do you consider important the etiological diagnosis? | ||
| Very Unimportant | 3 (0.9) | 14 (3.7) |
| Unimportant | 4 (1.2) | 24 (6.3) |
| Neutral | 30 (8.9) | 80 (20.9) |
| Important | 85 (25.2) | 104 (27.2) |
| Very Important | 216 (63.9) | 160 (41.9) |
| Do you agree that pharmaceutical laboratories support the diagnosis of rare diseases? | ||
| Strongly Disagree | 12 (3.6) | 14 (3.7) |
| Disagree | 46 (13.9) | 37 (9.7) |
| Neutral | 62 (18.3) | 102 (26.7) |
| Agree | 62 (18.3) | 109 (28.5) |
| Strongly Agree | 155 (45.9) | 120 (31.4) |
| Only for students | ||
| During your studies have you ever suspected a rare disease in your medical practice? | ||
| Yes | 177 (52.4) | |
| No | 79 (23.4) | |
| Maybe | 82 (24.3) | |
| Do you think that your training gives you the ability to care for a patient with a rare disease in the future? | ||
| Yes | 143 (42.3) | |
| No | 195 (57.7) | |
| Only for physicians | ||
| Have you ever treated a patient with a rare disease? | ||
| Yes | 215 (56.3) | |
| No | 51 (13.4) | |
| Maybe | 116 (30.4) | |
| Do you feel prepared to care for a patient with a rare disease? | ||
| Yes | 121 (31.7) | |
| No | 88 (23.0) | |
| Maybe | 173 (45.3) | |
| Do you think a budget should be assigned for rare diseases? | ||
| It does not matter if you assign a higher budget for one or another | 22 (5.8) | |
| Higher Budget for common diseases | 236 (61.8) | |
| Higher Budget for rare diseases | 30 (7.9) | |
| Same Budget for both | 94 (24.6) | |