Erika A. Waters|Jaclyn Muff|Jada G. Hamilton
Multifactorial beliefs about the role of genetics and behavior in common health conditions: prevalence and associations with participant characteristics and engagement in health behaviors
Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University in St. Louis|Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
many common health conditions arise due combination genetic factors lifestylerelated behaviors peoples understanding multifactorial nature health conditions implications receptivity health messages regarding genomics medicine may related adoption protective health behaviors although past work investigated aspects either genetic behavioral causal beliefs multifactorial beliefs evaluated systematicallyutilizing nationally representative crosssectional data health information national trends survey examined prevalence multifactorial beliefs regarding etiology cancer obesity diabetes heart disease hypertension well associations beliefs demographic health history health behavior variables us populationamong 3630 participants vast majority 642786 endorsed multifactorial beliefs number statistically significant associations limited trends suggest endorsement multifactorial beliefs may differ demographic health history characteristics beliefs multifactorial etiology cancer associated cancer screening behaviors multifactorial beliefs common health conditions associated health promotion behaviorsthese findings recommendations future research provide preliminary guidance developing targeting genomicsrelated health messages communications