title: Deciding about the unknown: perceptions of risk of women who have prenatal diagnosis.
abstract: This paper examines the risk perceptions of women who undergo two prenatal diagnostic procedures, amniocentesis and CVS (chorionic villus sampling). Data were collected from a survey of clinic patients in suburban Washington, D.C. and in San Diego (N = 120). The survey was supplemented by in-depth interviews with prenatal diagnosis users and genetic counselors. Women with more education, as well as those who had CVS rather than amniocentesis, were more likely to view their risk as low. This contradicts the accepted view that users are aware of the higher risks of CVS. Rather, it seems that risk perceptions are socially constructed to achieve cognitive consistency with the action undertaken. Qualitative data suggest that perceptions of risk appear to be influenced not only by the users' demographic characteristics but by the salience and severity of the event in question and by the user's perceived control over it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology & Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolker
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Burke
mesh_terms: D000649:Amniocentesis; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D015193:Chorionic Villi Sampling; D004219:District of Columbia; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016387:Women's Health