Genetic testing reliability opinions U.S. 2018

This statistic depicts the percentage of U.S. adults that felt certain aspects of genetic testing were or were not reliable as of 2018. According to the data, 57 percent of respondents felt that genetic testing's ability to predict whether a person might develop a certain disease was "somewhat reliable" at that time.

Percentage of U.S. adults that felt select aspects of genetic testing were or were not reliable as of 2018

Characteristic	Extremely reliable	Very reliable	Somewhat reliable	Not very reliable	Not at all reliable
Diagnosing certain diseases or conditions	7%	35%	49%	5%	2%
Identifying where a person's ancestors came from	11%	33%	46%	8%	2%
Predicting whether a person might pass the risk of certain diseases or conditions to their children	7%	31%	53%	6%	2%
Determining treatment for certain diseases or conditions	4%	30%	55%	8%	2%
Predicting whether a person might develop certain diseases or conditions	5%	27%	57%	9%	2%

Loading statistic...

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Source

Use Ask Statista Research Service

Release date

June 2018

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

June 13 to 18, 2018

Number of respondents

1,109 respondents

Age group

18 years and older

Method of interview

Face-to-face interview, online survey

Supplementary notes

Original question: "As you may know, scientists have developed tests that can use the DNA sequence of a person’s genes to help predict whether an individual, or their future children, might develop certain diseases, as well as to diagnose whether they have certain diseases. Similar tests can also be used to identify where a person’s ancestors came from. How reliable would you say these genetic or DNA tests are at the following?...)"

Citation formats