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Is there a role for a twins clinic? An evaluation of parents'responses
Author(s) -
Bendefy Ilona M,
Elliman Alison,
Prior Susan,
Bryan Elizabeth M
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1994.tb12950.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pediatrics , family medicine
Bendefy IM, Elliman A, Prior S, Bryan EM. Is there a role for a twins clinic? An evaluation of parents'responses. Acta Pædiatr 1994;83:40–5. Stockholm. ISSN 0803–5253 To evaluate parental responses to the Twins Clinic, postal questionnaires were sent to the parents of 141 pairs of twins, born outside the maternity hospital who were referred to the clinic in the first three years. The main outcome measures were: the sources of, and reasons for, referral; previous attempts to find help; experiences at the clinic and outcome of the visit. One hundred and thirteen families (80%) replied, of whom 101 (89%) were self‐referred. The most common problems for which twins were referred related to behaviour (34) and development (28). In 99 (88%) cases, parents had already sought assistance from other sources (39 from health professionals) but only 29 had found this helpful. In 95 (84%) cases, parents felt there had been a positive outcome from attending the clinic, in the form of reassurance (87), change of management (39), successful support for applications (19) or information (11). Parents' responses indicate that the Twins Clinic meets the needs of families with multiples who are inadequately served by existing sources of help. These will only be improved through education of health professionals (and of the community as a whole) so as to obviate the need for Twins Clinics.