Author(s)

Saida Lhousni¹, Redouane Boulouiz¹, Naima Abda², Mariam Tajir¹, Mohammed Bellaoui^1*, Meryem Ouarzane¹

¹Genetics Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Oujda, University Mohammed Premier, Oujda, Morocco.
²Laboratory of Epidemiology, Clinical Research and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Oujda, University Mohammed Premier, Oujda, Morocco.

Background: Health professionals play a key role in increasing the rate of biobanking participation. Here, we assessed the knowledge and attitude of health professionals in Eastern Morocco towards biobanks and their willingness to recruit patients into biobanks. Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out among health professionals working in various public and private health centers in Eastern Morocco. The data were obtained using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. Results: 600 health professionals were included in the study. Only 37.5% of them had knowledge of biobanks. Associations analysis showed that among health professionals, physicians had more knowledge of biobanks (OR = 2.50, p = 0.000), and health professionals working at the University Hospital had more knowledge of biobanks compared to those working in the other participating health centers (p < 0.001). 82.9% of the participants were willing to donate their biological samples to biobanks, and 82.8% supported the recruitment of patients into biobanks. Conclusions: This study indicates that health professionals in Eastern Morocco showed a notable lack of knowledge about biobanks. However, the majority were willing to donate their own biospecimens and supported the recruitment of patients into biobanks. This study was a good opportunity to raise awareness among health professionals about the interest of biobanks in the development of biomedical research in Eastern Morocco.

Biobanks, Health Professionals, Knowledge, Attitude, Willingness to Support Biobank, Morocco

Lhousni, S. , Boulouiz, R. , Abda, N. , Tajir, M. , Bellaoui, M. and Ouarzane, M. (2019) Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Support of Health Professionals towards Biobanks in Eastern Morocco. Open Journal of Epidemiology, 9, 191-201. doi: 10.4236/ojepi.2019.93016.