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Expectation and knowledge of women undergoing first‐trimester combined screening for Down syndrome in a Chinese population
Author(s) -
Chan Lin Wai,
Chau Mo Ching Macy,
Leung Tak Yeung,
Fung Tak Yuen,
Leung Tse Ngong,
Lau Tze Kin
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.1313
Subject(s) - down syndrome , medicine , obstetrics , first trimester , chinese population , population , pregnancy , aneuploidy , gynecology , fetus , genetics , biology , psychiatry , environmental health , gene , genotype , chromosome
Objectives To study the preference of pregnant women regarding the time taken to report the results of first‐trimester combined screening for Down syndrome and their knowledge about it. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted on a cohort of 325 pregnant participants who attended our first‐trimester combined nuchal translucency and biochemical screening programme for fetal Down syndrome. This service was operated in a one‐stop setting and the result of the screening test was available within 1 to 2 h after the collection of blood sample. Results The majority of participants: (1) could recall the quoted detection rate correctly (96.6%); (2) understood that a negative test does not exclude Down syndrome (91.1%); (3) understood that a positive test does not equate to an affected fetus (91.0%), and (4) could decide on the need for further invasive tests on the basis of the screening test results (98.1%). Twenty‐nine percent of participants considered that a one‐stop setting was very important because any delay in releasing the results made a significant difference to them, while 48.9% considered it acceptable if the results were available on the same day. The percentage dropped dramatically to 6.3% (within 2 days), 6.7% (within 3 days), 5.7% (within 1 week), and 3.1% (more than 1 week). Conclusion The majority of the pregnant women in our test considered same day reporting of screening test results to be no different from a one‐stop clinic. This would have important implications for the organisation and structuring of our service provision, since the operation of a one‐stop clinic imposes significant stresses on the clinical staff involved. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.