The psychological effects of false‐positive results in prenatal screening for fetal abnormality: A prospective study

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to describe the impact of false-positive results from initial maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MS-AFP) screening. The analyses compared two groups of women, those receiving a negative result (n = 346) and those receiving an initial positive result (n = 26), over four time points--prior to testing, immediately after testing, later in pregnancy, and in the post-partum period. Receiving an abnormal result was associated with high levels of anxiety which were reflected in increased worry about the baby's health and a more negative attitude towards the pregnancy and the baby. Women who had an initial abnormal result were offered a variety of further tests. Those women who went on to have amniocentesis were less worried about their baby's health in the third trimester and also less anxious post-partum than those who did not have amniocentesis. In view of the increasing number of screening tests available, it is necessary to establish whether and how these levels of distress can best be reduced.

Psychosocial aspects of genetic screening of pregnant women and newborns: a systematic review

“…67,74 Twenty-four studies within the review measured anxiety, 12 employed the STAI, 12,17,[43][44][45]47,48,[75][76][77][78][79] one the STAI and HADS, 49 three used an unvalidated questionnaire measure 60,64,65 and ten ascertained anxiety levels by interview. 55,59,[80][81][82][83][84][85] Of these studies, nine assessed anxiety before women were tested 12,17,[43][44][45]47,48,76,77 and the rest after testing and/or after test results. Most studies were carried out in the UK, 12,17,[43][44][45]48,59,65,83,84 five in North America, 47,74,78,…”

“…55,59,[80][81][82][83][84][85] Of these studies, nine assessed anxiety before women were tested 12,17,[43][44][45]47,48,76,77 and the rest after testing and/or after test results. Most studies were carried out in the UK, 12,17,[43][44][45]48,59,65,83,84 five in North America, 47,74,78,79,85 three in Finland, 55,80,82 two in The Netherlands 60,64 and one each in Denmark 81 and Italy. 77 As all studies in this chapter employing a validated measure of anxiety used the STAI, the STAI is discussed in more detail.…”

“…This was first reported by Farrant 8 and Fearn and co-workers 9 and has been confirmed in most subsequent studies. [10][11][12] Fearn and coworkers 9 found that the anxiety persisted even when women were told that there was not a problem after all. The most severe levels of anxiety were found in women who, having gone on to have amniocentesis, were not told the results.…”

Determination of the median levels of double and triple prenatal screening parameters in Adıyaman region

“…Yanlış pozitif ve yanlış negatif sonuçlar gebenin hayatını olumsuz yönde etkileyebilir [8,9]. Doğurganlık oranının yüksek olduğu Adıyaman bölge-sinde yapılan bu çalışmada ilk olarak gebelerin yaş dağılımları incelendi.…”

“…Bütün bu non-invaziv tarama çalışmalarını geliştirme çabaları, farklı gebelik haftalarında yapılan taramalarla riskli tespit edilen gebelere önerilen girişimsel işlemleri (koryon villüs biyopsisi, amniyosentez) azaltmak içindir. Gebelikte yapılan tüm testler ve girişimsel işlemlerin hem gebe hem de fetusu etkileyebilen psikolojik boyutu da önemlidir [8]. Girişimsel işlemlerde fetal kayıp oranlarının koryon villüs biyopsisinde %1.5, birinci trimesterde yapılan amniyosentezlerde %2, ikinci trimesterde yapılan amniyosentezlerde %1 oranında olduğu bildirilmiştir [9].…”