Attitudes toward prenatal screening for chromosomal abnormalities: A focus group study.
Authors of this article are:
Munro S, Sou J, Zhang W, Mohammadi T, Trenaman L, Langlois S, Anis AH.
A summary of the article is shown below:
BACKGROUND: While discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are well established methods to ascertain patient preferences, there is limited literature describing use of qualitative methods in DCE design.AIM: This article provides a case study of the qualitative research process for developing the conceptual attributes for a DCE for prenatal screening and diagnosis.METHODS: Participants were recruited through posters and social media. Four in-depth, semi-structured focus groups with pregnant women and their partners/support people were conducted in Metro Vancouver.FINDINGS: Our analysis indicates that choosing prenatal screening and diagnosis involves four intertwined decisions: whether to undergo screening and testing, which screening test to take, which diagnostic test to take, and what to do with a positive diagnosis. The factors that are important to women and their partners vary depending on the decision and include: time of diagnosis, information on conditions tested, false positives, cost, the invasiveness of the test, and potential harm to woman and baby.DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that certain attributes were more salient for screening versus diagnostic tests. Preferences were often shaped by a woman’s perceived ability to care for a child with a genetic anomaly, personal risk factors, parity, views on termination, and perceptions on public or private coverage. Participants valued mental well-being and demonstrated a willingness to trade-off on certain attributes in order to minimize stress or anxiety during pregnancy.CONCLUSION: Study findings will be used to inform DCE attributes, levels, and choice questions. Findings will be important for policy decisions surrounding prenatal testing.Copyright © 2018 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Check out the article’s website on Pubmed for more information:
This article is a good source of information and a good way to become familiar with topics such as: Choice behavior;Health knowledge, attitudes;Patient preference;Pregnancy;Prenatal diagnosis/psychology.
