KNOWLEDGE OF THE EMPLOYEES OF UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCE ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED PRODUCTS, AND THEIR BENEFITS AND COMPLICATIONS.

Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of the employees of Iran University of Medical Sciences about the effects of genetically modified products, and their benefits and complications.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, knowledge of 203 employees of the medical university (mean age 39.98 years), 126 women (62.1%) and 77 men (37.9%) was evaluated for genetically modified products by using a validated questionnaire. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were examined by expert panel and test-retest method. Data analysis was done with SPSS 22.Results: The results of this study showed that although 70% of the participants had heard the name of the genetically modified products, only 11.3% of the subjects had a good and enough knowledge and 42% had a little knowledge of these products. The majority of participants did not know the benefits and complications of these products. Their information on the complications of genetically modified products was more than the benefits of these products. There was a significant relationship between knowledge, number of children (p = .030) and marital status (p = .039).Conclusion: Although 70% of people have heard the name of genetically modified products, their level of awareness was low and moderate. The knowledge of participants had correlated with the marital status and number of children.

Keywords:

knowledge , employees , genetically modified products