Nutrigenetic Testing for Personalized Nutrition: An Evaluation of Public Perceptions, Attitudes, and Concerns in a Population of French Canadians.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate attitudes, perceptions, and concerns about nutrigenetic testing for personalized nutrition in the general population of the province of Quebec in Canada.

METHODS

A total of 1,425 individuals from the province of Quebec completed a 37-question online survey on nutrigenetics and were included in analyses. The χ2 test was used to test for associations between categorical variables.

RESULTS

The majority of the participants (93.3%) considered dietitians the best professionals to give personalized dietary advice based on nutrigenetic testing. The main reported advantage for nutrigenetic testing was "health" (23.5%), followed by "disease prevention" (22.2%). Among the disadvantages, "no disadvantage" (24.4%), followed by "diet restriction" (12.9%) were mostly reported. The 2 major concerns raised were accessibility to genetic testing by telemarketing companies and spammers (51.8%), and solicitation by companies using personal genetic data to sell products (48.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

French Canadians generally have a positive attitude towards nutrigenetics and consider its use to have many benefits. They expressed concern about possible confidentiality issues associated with the management or property of genetic test results. Education about such issues is needed. Overall, our findings suggest that the population is interested in more extensive use of nutrigenetics in health management.