Psychological measures of patient's decision-making for prenatal genetic testing.
Publication/Presentation Date
11-1-2022
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To use a questionnaire to determine the levels of maternal decision-related distress, clarity of the pros and cons, and certainty when considering prenatal genetic diagnostic testing; and to assess the relationship between these constructs and patient characteristics.
METHOD: Cross-sectional study. Voluntary, anonymous questionnaires distributed 2017-2019 to women referred for invasive prenatal genetic testing. Excluded: English or Spanish illiterate. Maternal characteristics were collected. Questions evaluated distress, decisional certainty, and decisional clarity on a 5-point Likert scale (range: 0 = low/uncertain/unclear to 4 = high/certain/clear). Analysis: non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis, correlation statistics, and ANOVA.
RESULTS: Forty-four female patients completed it. Most were married, white, Catholic, and multiparous. 58% had already made a testing decision. Patients expressed low distress levels (mean 1.18 ± 0.80) and expressed high decisional certainty (mean 3.28 ± 0.76) and clarity (mean 3.30 ± 0.99). Decisional certainty and clarity were positively correlated (
CONCLUSIONS: Higher maternal distress scores were associated with lower decisional certainty and decisional clarity in women considering prenatal genetic testing.
Volume
35
Issue
21
First Page
4130
Last Page
4136
ISSN
1476-4954
Published In/Presented At
Herrera, K. M., Milone, G., Davis, J. A., Persad, M. D., Dinglas, C., Heiselman, C., Buckley, A., Garretto, D., & Pastore, L. M. (2022). Psychological measures of patient's decision-making for prenatal genetic testing. The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians, 35(21), 4130–4136. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767058.2020.1847074
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
33207999
Department(s)
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Document Type
Article