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Assessment of the Effectiveness of Genetic Counseling by Telephone Compared to a Clinic Visit
Author(s) -
Sangha Karan K.,
Dircks Anita,
Langlois Sylvie
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of genetic counseling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1573-3599
pISSN - 1059-7700
DOI - 10.1023/a:1022663324006
Subject(s) - genetic counseling , anxiety , medicine , amniocentesis , telephone counseling , family medicine , telephone interview , pregnancy , clinical psychology , psychiatry , prenatal diagnosis , intervention (counseling) , fetus , genetics , social science , sociology , biology
Maternal serum screening, also known as the triple screen, is used during pregnancy to assess the risk of carrying a fetus with specific chromosome abnormalities or open spina bifida. All women in British Columbia who screen positive are eligible for genetic counseling and are offered amniocentesis. The purpose of this study is to determine what differences (if any) exist in patients' understanding and/or anxiety when genetic counseling for a positive triple screen is conducted in person versus over the telephone. Each patient who participated was given the choice of having genetic counseling in person or over the telephone, this after a randomized design failed to elicit any participants. Using a written postcounseling questionnaire, each patient was assessed for her understanding of the information presented in the session, and her anxiety regarding her risk. In this small pilot study, no large differences were detected in patients' understanding or anxiety when genetic counseling was conducted by telephone versus in person.