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Professional opinion on oral cleft during pregnancy: a comparison between Israel and the Netherlands
Author(s) -
Maarse Wies,
Boonacker Chantal W. B.,
Lapid Oren,
Swanenburg De Veye Henriette F. N.,
Weiner Zeev,
Kon Moshe,
Delden Johannes J. M.,
Mink van der Molen Aebele B.
Publication year - 2015
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.4570
Subject(s) - pregnancy , medicine , happiness , confidence interval , family medicine , prenatal care , obstetrics , pediatrics , population , psychology , environmental health , social psychology , genetics , biology
Objective The aim of this study was to assess the opinion of obstetric care providers who perform prenatal ultrasounds to screen for anomalies and who advise women about their options, including termination of pregnancy, when an oral cleft is detected. We compared providers' opinions about pregnancy termination for isolated oral cleft in the Netherlands, where the number of terminations is low, and in Israel, where the number is high. Methods Online questionnaires were used. The questions assessed the providers' views regarding the estimated burden of treatment, the functioning ability, and the level of happiness of children with an oral cleft and their parents. Additionally, we assessed providers' opinions on pregnancy termination for isolated oral cleft. Results In the Netherlands, more professionals considered oral cleft a disability (rate differences 17.8%, 95% confidence interval: 0.5–33.1%) than in Israel. In the Netherlands, 10.6% of respondents (compared with 11.1% in Israel) thought that an isolated cleft was a reason for terminations of pregnancy (TOP) (rate differences 0.6%, 95% confidence interval: −12% to 10.9%). Conclusions Prenatal care providers in the Netherlands and Israel do not differ in their opinions about the severity of oral cleft and the acceptability of TOP for an isolated oral cleft. This study shows that prenatal care providers' attitudes do therefore not explain the dramatic difference between these countries in the number of TOP for isolated oral cleft. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.