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Women's preferences in screening for Down syndrome
Author(s) -
Deverill Mark,
Robson Stephen
Publication year - 2006
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.1517
Subject(s) - preference , medicine , down syndrome , first trimester , prenatal screening , fetus , second trimester , test (biology) , obstetrics , pregnancy , pediatrics , prenatal diagnosis , statistics , psychiatry , paleontology , mathematics , biology , genetics
Objectives In this article, we seek to establish women's preferences (expressed as utility values) for a number of scenarios relating to the process and associated outcomes of first‐ and second‐trimester screening for Down syndrome. Methods We used the standard gamble (SG) approach with a sample of 100 pregnant women. Standard gamble is a choice‐based preference elicitation technique that values scenarios on a 0–1 scale. Results A true negative screening test, whether obtained in the first or second trimester, had the highest utility scores (both 0.98), which were not significantly different from the scores for the false‐positive scenarios leading to first‐ or second‐trimester invasive testing but the birth of a healthy infant (0.95 and 0.94, respectively). The mean utility score for the false‐negative scenario resulting in the birth of a Down syndrome infant (0.77) was lower than both the true negative scenarios and the false‐positive healthy baby scenarios ( p < 0.000). Conclusion We did not find any differences in the values of the key scenarios regarding either the timing of reassurance of a healthy fetus or the ability to access early surgical termination, rather than later medical termination for a Down syndrome fetus. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.