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Attitudes towards termination for fetal abnormality: comparisons in three European countries
Author(s) -
Drake Harriet,
Reid Margaret,
Marteau Theresa
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
clinical genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1399-0004
pISSN - 0009-9163
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-0004.1996.tb03272.x
Subject(s) - abnormality , health professionals , medicine , pregnancy , german , portuguese , perception , family medicine , psychology , health care , psychiatry , political science , history , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , neuroscience , biology , law , genetics
Attitudes towards termination for a range of genetic conditions were studied in health professionals and lay people in three European countries: Germany, Portugal and the UK. The health professionals consisted of geneticists in all countries and additionally obstetricians from Portugal and the UK. The lay persons consisted of pregnant women, and male and female non‐medical university employees. In all, more than 1,700 study participants completed questionnaires. Overall, health professionals were more likely than the lay persons to report that they would opt for termination following diagnosis of a fetal abnormality. Differences were found between countries and study groups. German respondents were least likely to report that they would undergo termination in the case of a fetal abnormality while Portuguese respondents were most likely to report that they would undergo a termination. Further studies are needed to determine first the extent to which differences between health professionals and lay samples reflect a difference in perception of disability, including tolerance of having a child with a disability; and second, whether such differences result in health professionals presenting termination of pregnancy in a way that is not concordant with patients' value systems.