Skip to main content
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1992 May;82(5):723–725. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.5.723

Carrier screening for cystic fibrosis: a pilot study of the attitudes of pregnant women.

J R Botkin 1, S Alemagno 1
PMCID: PMC1694124  PMID: 1566951

Abstract

We surveyed the attitudes of a consecutive sample of 306 pregnant Caucasian women toward carrier screening for cystic fibrosis. Of the 214 respondents, 98% said that screening should be offered before pregnancy, and 69% said they would accept carrier screening during pregnancy. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents indicated a willingness to terminate a pregnancy if the fetus were found to have cystic fibrosis. We conclude that carrier screening is of interest to pregnant women, although interest in terminating a pregnancy because of screening results may be limited.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams M. M., Finley S., Hansen H., Jahiel R. I., Oakley G. P., Jr, Sanger W., Wells G., Wertelecki W. Utilization of prenatal genetic diagnosis in women 35 years of age and older in the United States, 1977 to 1978. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1981 Mar 15;139(6):673–677. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(81)90483-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Auer IP, Colton E, Ditzler WR, Halpern H, Hill D, Miller RC, Spinka H, Tamura N, Tavernier J, Theodosiou G. Observation of structures in the mass range of 2700 to 2900 MeV in the difference between the pp total cross sections for pure helicity states. Phys Rev Lett. 1989 Jun 5;62(23):2649–2651. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.62.2649. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Beaudet A. L. Carrier screening for cystic fibrosis. Am J Hum Genet. 1990 Oct;47(4):603–605. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Beck E., Blaichman S., Scriver C. R., Clow C. L. Advocacy and compliance in genetic screening. Behavior of physicians and clients in a voluntary program of testing for the Tay-Sachs gene. N Engl J Med. 1974 Nov 28;291(22):1166–1170. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197411282912206. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Caskey C. T., Kaback M. M., Beaudet A. L. The American Society of Human Genetics statement on cystic fibrosis screening. Am J Hum Genet. 1990 Feb;46(2):393–393. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chase G. A., Faden R. R., Holtzman N. A., Chwalow A. J., Leonard C. O., Lopes C., Quaid K. Assessment of risk by pregnant women: implications for genetic counseling and education. Soc Biol. 1986 Spring-Summer;33(1-2):57–64. doi: 10.1080/19485565.1986.9988622. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Colten H. R. Screening for cystic fibrosis; public policy and personal choices. N Engl J Med. 1990 Feb 1;322(5):328–329. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199002013220510. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Faden R. R., Chwalow A. J., Quaid K., Chase G. A., Lopes C., Leonard C. O., Holtzman N. A. Prenatal screening and pregnant women's attitudes toward the abortion of defective fetuses. Am J Public Health. 1987 Mar;77(3):288–290. doi: 10.2105/ajph.77.3.288. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Goldstein M. S., Greenwald S., Nathan T., Massarik F., Kaback M. M. Health behavior and genetic screening for carriers of Tay-Sachs disease: a prospective study. Soc Sci Med. 1977 May;11(8-9):515–520. doi: 10.1016/0037-7856(77)90030-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Marion J. P., Kassam G., Fernhoff P. M., Brantley K. E., Carroll L., Zacharias J., Klein L., Priest J. H., Elsas L. J., 2nd Acceptance of amniocentesis by low-income patients in an urban hospital. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1980 Sep 1;138(1):11–15. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(80)90004-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Modell B., Ward R. H., Fairweather D. V. Effect of introducing antenatal diagnosis on reproductive behaviour of families at risk for thalassaemia major. Br Med J. 1980 Jun 7;280(6228):1347–1350. doi: 10.1136/bmj.280.6228.1347. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Roberts L. Cystic fibrosis pilot projects go begging. Science. 1990 Nov 23;250(4984):1076–1077. doi: 10.1126/science.2251497. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Roberts L. To test or not to test? Science. 1990 Jan 5;247(4938):17–19. doi: 10.1126/science.2294585. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Roghmann K. J., Doherty R., Robinson J. L., Nitzkin J. L., Sell R. R. The selective utilization of prenatal genetic diagnosis. Experiences of a regional program in upstate New York during the 1970s. Med Care. 1983 Nov;21(11):1111–1125. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198311000-00007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sell R. R., Roghmann K. J., Doherty R. A. Attitudes toward abortion and prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities: implications for educational programs. Soc Biol. 1978 Winter;25(4):288–301. doi: 10.1080/19485565.1978.9988350. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wilfond Benjamin S., Fost Norman. The cystic fibrosis gene: medical and social implications for heterozygote detection. JAMA. 1990 May 23;263(10):2777–2783. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Zielenski J., Markiewicz D., Rininsland F., Rommens J., Tsui L. C. A cluster of highly polymorphic dinucleotide repeats in intron 17b of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. Am J Hum Genet. 1991 Dec;49(6):1256–1262. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES