Medical student acceptance on gene therapy to increase children's well-being with genetic diseases: a study in Indonesia

Abstract

Aim: Gene therapy is expected to improve patients' quality of life. Medical students need to be aware about this technology as its application is becoming wider. Materials & methods: A web-based survey was conducted to measure the acceptance of Indonesian medical students regarding gene therapy. Results: Data from 621 valid responses showed that Indonesian medical students have little knowledge of this technology, with 34.4% of them ever heard of gene therapy. However, most of them support the approved gene therapy for health-related matters, but not on the non-health related matters. Their acceptance was determined by the sex, domicile and studentship status. Conclusion: Increasing medical students' knowledge of gene therapy is important to minimize the future conflict of gene therapy application. Plain language summary Gene therapy is a new breakthrough for the medical world that aims to improve children with genetic diseases, their family well-being and quality of life. There is a possibility that gene therapy will be used in Indonesia, therefore preparedness for adopting this new treatment is important for the future medical doctor. This study shows a low level of knowledge of Indonesian medical students on this technology, even though their acceptance for gene therapy application in health-related matters is high. Increasing medical students' knowledge of gene therapy is important to minimize the future conflict of gene therapy application.