Valerie Seror1, Yves Ville. 1. INSERM, UMR912 "Economic & Social Sciences, Health Systems & Societies" (SE4S), Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France. valerie.seror@inserm.fr
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate pregnant women's decisions about and attitudes towards Down syndrome screening, i.e. ultrasound at 11-14 weeks, Maternal Serum Markers (MSM) at 11-14 or 15-17 weeks and possibly invasive testing. METHOD: Women having given birth to a non-affected child were asked to fill in a self-administered questionnaire during their stay at the maternity unit. In order to characterize women's decision-making behaviour, a hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted and logistic regressions were performed. RESULTS: Four hundred women were invited to participate in the study, and 391 returned the questionnaire. Both ultrasound and biochemical screening had been proposed to 88.3% of the women. Three clusters of women who were offered ultrasound and MSM were identified. Two clusters (52% and 42% of women) differed in active versus passive involvement in decision-making. Passively involved women frequently reported unawareness of the possibility of having to make decisions about invasive testing and/or termination of pregnancy. The third cluster (6% of women) consisted of women who declined MSM. Most of the women showed a preference for first-trimester screening, but actively involved women were willing to pay more for MSM. CONCLUSION: Providing information about the sequence of decision possibly involved in screening could contribute to better informed decisions. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate pregnant women's decisions about and attitudes towards Down syndrome screening, i.e. ultrasound at 11-14 weeks, Maternal Serum Markers (MSM) at 11-14 or 15-17 weeks and possibly invasive testing. METHOD:Women having given birth to a non-affected child were asked to fill in a self-administered questionnaire during their stay at the maternity unit. In order to characterize women's decision-making behaviour, a hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted and logistic regressions were performed. RESULTS: Four hundred women were invited to participate in the study, and 391 returned the questionnaire. Both ultrasound and biochemical screening had been proposed to 88.3% of the women. Three clusters of women who were offered ultrasound and MSM were identified. Two clusters (52% and 42% of women) differed in active versus passive involvement in decision-making. Passively involved women frequently reported unawareness of the possibility of having to make decisions about invasive testing and/or termination of pregnancy. The third cluster (6% of women) consisted of women who declined MSM. Most of the women showed a preference for first-trimester screening, but actively involved women were willing to pay more for MSM. CONCLUSION: Providing information about the sequence of decision possibly involved in screening could contribute to better informed decisions. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Authors: Janneke T Gitsels-van der Wal; Pieternel S Verhoeven; Judith Manniën; Linda Martin; Hans S Reinders; Evelien Spelten; Eileen K Hutton Journal: BMC Pregnancy Childbirth Date: 2014-08-09 Impact factor: 3.007