title: Assessing educational priorities in genetics for general practitioners and specialists in five countries: factor structure of the Genetic-Educational Priorities (Gen-EP) scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A scale assessing primary care physicians' priorities for genetic education (The Gen-EP scale) was developed and tested in five European countries. The objective of this study was to determine its factor structure, to test scaling assumptions and to determine internal consistency.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 3686 practitioners (general practitioners, gyneco-obstetricians, pediatricians) sampled in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and United Kingdom. We first determined the factor structure of the Gen-EP scale (30 items) on the whole sample. Scaling assumptions were then tested on each country using multitrait scaling analysis. Internal consistency was assessed across the five countries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six factors were identified accounting for 63.3% of the variance of the items. They represented the following priorities for genetic education: "Genetics of Common Diseases"; "Ethical, Legal, and Public Health Issues"; "Approaching Genetic Risk Assessment in Clinical Practice"; "Basic Genetics and Congenital Malformations"; "Techniques and Innovation in Genetics" and "Psychosocial and Counseling Issues." In each country, convergent and discriminant validity were satisfactory. Internal-consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) were all above the acceptable threshold (0.70).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Gen-EP scale could be a helpful instrument in different countries to organize and evaluate the impact of genetic educational programs for primary care providers.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR912, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Calefato
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nippert
authors.forename: Hilary J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kristoffersson
authors.forename: Jorg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidtke
authors.forename: Leo P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Ten Kate
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anionwu
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benjamin
authors.forename: Kirsty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Challen
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Plass
authors.forename: Rodney
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Julian-Reynier
mesh_terms: D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000379:methods; D005826:Genetics, Medical / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000193:education*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires