Are Adolescents’ decisions about Prenatal Screening for Down Syndrome Informed? A Controlled, Prospective Study

Wynter, Karen H.; Rowe, Heather J.; Fisher, Jane R.; Lee, Mardiana; Quinlivan, Julie A.

doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2010.06.006

« Previous Next »Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
Volume 24, Issue 1 , Pages 29-34, February 2011

Are Adolescents’ decisions about Prenatal Screening for Down Syndrome Informed? A Controlled, Prospective Study

Karen H. Wynter, PhD
- Centre for Women’s Health, Gender and Society, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Address correspondence to: Dr. Karen Wynter, Centre for Women’s Health, Gender and Society, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia, Telephone: +61 3 8344 0785; Fax: +61 3 9347 9824.
Heather J. Rowe, PhD
- Centre for Women’s Health, Gender and Society, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Jane R. Fisher, PhD
- Centre for Women’s Health, Gender and Society, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Mardiana Lee, BMedSci MBBS
- School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Julie A. Quinlivan, PhD
- College of Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia, Western Australia, Australia

published online 16 August 2010.

Abstract

Study Objective

Maternal serum screening is routinely offered to pregnant women in public hospitals in Victoria, Australia, regardless of their age. The aim of this study was to determine whether pregnant adolescents are less likely to make informed choices about undertaking this test than adult pregnant women.

Design

Controlled, prospective design.

Setting

Public hospital antenatal clinics in Victoria, Australia.

Participants

Adolescents up to 20 years of age were recruited at young mothers’ clinics before they were offered second trimester maternal screening. They completed self-report questionaires prior to maternal serum screening and again after the screening result was known.

Main Outcome Measures

A validated measure of informed choice was used to determine whether adolescents made informed choices about undertaking second trimester maternal serum screening.

Results

Complete data were available for 147 adolescents. These data were combined with data from 85 adults which had been collected in an identical way. Ten percent of the adolescents made informed decisions about having the maternal serum screening, compared with 37% of the adult participant group (P < 0.05). Adolescent women were significantly less likely to make an informed choice than adult women, when relevant demographic and reproductive history variables were controlled for (adjusted OR = 0.25; P = 0.004; 95% CI for OR: 0.10, 0.63).

Conclusion

Few pregnant adolescents made informed decisions about maternal serum screening. Clinicians face a challenge to improve adolescents’ knowledge about maternal serum screening.

Key Words: Adolescent pregnancy, Informed decision, Prenatal genetic screening