Examining the Knowledge, Type of Attitude and Performance of General and Specialist Doctors in Relation to the Referral of Necessary Cases to Genetic Counseling and Genetic Tests Required by Patients of Bushehr city in the Period of 2020

Background and Objectives Considering the increase in the number of genetic disorders among human diseases and the importance of genetic counseling in prevention and the role of physicions in providing counseling, this study aims to determine the evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and performance of health specialists regarding the referral of necessary cases to genetic counseling and genetic tests were done in Bushehr in 2020. Subjects and Methods This research was a cross-sectional descriptive analytical study that was conducted using a questionnaire containing demographic information and questions in three areas of knowledge, attitude and performance of doctors regarding the referral of necessary cases to genetic counseling and testingin Bushehr with the participation of 95 doctors. Spearman, U-Man-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis correlation tests and Tukey's Post Hoc test were used for data analysis. Results The average scores of doctors' knowledge, attitude and performance were 70.30 ± 7.45, 89.21 ± 10.77 and 38.25 ± 20.60, respectively, which indicates good knowledge and attitude and poor performance of doctors in this field. There was a significant difference in the performance score among doctors of different disciplines. A statistically significant relationship was obtained between knowledge and performance, attitude and performance and between participation in the genetics training course and performance. Conclusion According to the findings of the study, holding effective and practical training courses, preparing a referral guide for doctors and establishing a standard genetic services center to improve the status of genetic counseling in Bushehr in order to control and prevent these diseases seems necessary.