TY - JOUR
T1 - Characteristics of women who refuse an offer of prenatal diagnosis
T2 - Data from the California maternal serum alpha fetoprotein blood test experience
AU - Press, Nancy
AU - Browner, C. H.
PY - 1998/8/6
Y1 - 1998/8/6
N2 - This paper presents data from the California maternal serum alpha fetoprotein (MSAFP) program in order to explore the effect and interaction of various factors, especially ethnicity, abortion history and attitudes, religion, and religiosity on MSAFP test decision. The intent is to describe which women are more likely to reject MSAFP screening and also to understand the reasons for refusal and the meanings associated with it. We obtained data on sociodemographics and reproductive history from 595 obstetrical patient charts; we conducted semistructured interviews with an additional 158 pregnant women who were European-American, English-speaking Latina, or Spanish-speaking Latina. All of the women had been offered screening within the context of California's MSAFP Program. We found that women who had never terminated a pregnancy, Spanish-speaking Latinas, and women who scored high on a religiosity scale were significantly more likely to refuse testing. However, we found that all of those factors were strongly mediated by the effects of ethnicity and acculturation, producing different patterns of association in different groups of women.
AB - This paper presents data from the California maternal serum alpha fetoprotein (MSAFP) program in order to explore the effect and interaction of various factors, especially ethnicity, abortion history and attitudes, religion, and religiosity on MSAFP test decision. The intent is to describe which women are more likely to reject MSAFP screening and also to understand the reasons for refusal and the meanings associated with it. We obtained data on sociodemographics and reproductive history from 595 obstetrical patient charts; we conducted semistructured interviews with an additional 158 pregnant women who were European-American, English-speaking Latina, or Spanish-speaking Latina. All of the women had been offered screening within the context of California's MSAFP Program. We found that women who had never terminated a pregnancy, Spanish-speaking Latinas, and women who scored high on a religiosity scale were significantly more likely to refuse testing. However, we found that all of those factors were strongly mediated by the effects of ethnicity and acculturation, producing different patterns of association in different groups of women.
KW - Abortion
KW - Ethnicity
KW - Maternal serum alpha fetoprotein
KW - Prenatal diagnosis
KW - Religiosity
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U2 - 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19980806)78:5<433::AID-AJMG8>3.0.CO;2-M
DO - 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19980806)78:5<433::AID-AJMG8>3.0.CO;2-M
M3 - Article
C2 - 9714010
AN - SCOPUS:0031858733
SN - 0148-7299
VL - 78
SP - 433
EP - 445
JO - American Journal of Medical Genetics
JF - American Journal of Medical Genetics
IS - 5
ER -