Do women prefer to have screening tests for Down syndrome that have the lowest screen‐positive rate or the highest detection rate?

Abstract

Women express different preferences for screening test performance. Maternal age rather than previous screening experiences appears to be the major influence in these choices.

Women’s and health professionals’ preferences for prenatal tests for Down syndrome: a discrete choice experiment to contrast noninvasive prenatal diagnosis with current invasive tests

“…We also found that women ≥35 had a stronger preference for tests with higher accuracy than women <35. This is similar to the observation of Mulvey et al, 32 who found that older women (>37) valued Down syndrome screening tests with the highest detection rate, as compared to younger women, who preferred tests with the lowest possible false-positive rate.…”

Factors affecting women's preference for type of prenatal screening test for chromosomal anomalies

“…We cannot discount the possibility that if detection rates were fixed at the same level for all tests and false‐positive rates varied, women may show a preference for tests with the lowest follow‐up rates. A recent study of women's preferences for a test having either the lowest screen‐positive rate or the highest detection rate, has shown that women over 37 years of age prefer a test with the highest detection rate13. In our survey we did not find that women over 34 years of age preferred a test with the highest detection.…”

Regional variations in prenatal screening across Australia: Stepping towards a national policy framework

“…Only one study has addressed women's preferences and found that the majority chose a screening test with a low screen-positive rate rather than the highest detection rate, whereas older women (> 37 years) chose a test with the highest detection rate possible, regardless of the higher screenpositive rate. 15 While challenging, it would benefit programs if such preferences could be used to inform policy decisions about how antenatal screening tests are provided.…”