A recognition survey of granular corneal dystrophy type 2 genetic detection in China

Aim To evaluate the feasibility of promoting genetic detection for granular corneal dystrophy type 2 (GCD2) by a questionnaire conducted among citizens in five cities in China. Methods The data were collected by questionnaire, and analyzed by Chi-square test and one-tailed t test in IBM SPSS statistics. Results Based on the survey data on the awareness of GCD2 genetic detection in this study and the positive predictive analysis report of the citizens in five cities in China, the vast majority (84.2%) of respondents had never heard of it and did not know that GCD2 patients have been prohibited from performing excimer surgery that can deteriorate GCD2 patients' condition even leading to blindness. Though 3.4% of patients understood GCD2 very much, they have no idea that GCD2 could not be 100% accuracy diagnosed by the conventional inspection methods. Conclusion It is feasible and necessary to use GCD2 genetic detection as an excimer preoperative examination project. In order to promote the development of detection project, a few improvements should be carried out in terms of the promoting efforts, costs, and research progress.