Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38503461›Full record

ArticleCanadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie

Knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and barriers pertaining to genetic literacy among surgeons: a scoping review.

Zuhaib M Mir, Linda Y N Fei, Sandra McKeown, Rachelle Dinchong, Nicholas Cofie, Nancy Dalgarno, Alison Rusnak, Rona E Cheifetz, Shaila J Merchant

Open access · diamondAbstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Interaction of identity and beliefs with genetic literacy.American journal of human genetics · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Zuhaib M MirFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Linda Y N FeiFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Sandra McKeownFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Rachelle DinchongFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Nicholas CofieFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Nancy DalgarnoFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Alison RusnakFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Rona E CheifetzFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz).
Shaila J MerchantFrom the Divisions of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Mir, Fei, Merchant); the Bracken Health Sciences Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (McKeown); the Division of Medical Genetics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, Ont. (Dinchong); the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont. (Cofie, Dalgarno); the Inherited Cancer Program, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ont. (Rusnak); the Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. (Cheifetz) shaila.merchant@kingstonhsc.ca.
Kingston Health Sciences Centre · CAThe King's College · USUniversity of British Columbia · CAChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario · CAQueen's University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe rapid evolution of genetic technologies and utilization of genetic information for clinical decision-making has necessitated increased surgeon participation in genetic counselling, testing, and appropriate referral of patients for genetic services, without formal training in genetics. We performed a scoping review to describe surgeons' knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and barriers pertaining to genetic literacy in the management of patients who had confirmed cancer or who were potentially genetically at risk.

methodsWe conducted a scoping review in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. We performed a comprehensive literature search, and 2 reviewers independently screened studies for inclusion. These studies included surgeons involved in the care of patients with confirmed gastrointestinal, breast, and endocrine and neuroendocrine cancers, or patients who were potentially genetically at risk for these cancers.

resultsWe analyzed 17 studies, all of which used survey or interview-based formats. Many surgeons engaged in genetic counselling, testing, and referral, but reported low confidence and comfort in doing so. Knowledge assessments showed lower confidence in identifying genetic inheritance patterns and hereditary cancer syndromes, but awareness was higher among surgeons with greater clinical volume or subspecialty training in oncology. Surgeons felt responsible for facilitating these services and explicitly requested educational support in genetics. Barriers to genetic literacy were identified and catalogued at patient, surgeon, and system levels.

conclusionSurgeons frequently engage in genetics-related tasks despite a lack of formal genetics training, and often report low knowledge, comfort, and confidence in providing such services. We have identified several barriers to genetic literacy that can be used to develop interventions to enhance genetic literacy among surgeons.

Indexed as

Genetic CounselingHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeSurgeonsAttitude of Health PersonnelGenetic TestingHealth LiteracyHumans

Identifiers

PMID38503461
PMCPMC10959449
OpenAlexW4392954521

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.