Communicating about chromosomes: patients, providers, and cultural assumptions.
Field-based anthropological research on the social impact and cultural meaning of prenatal diagnosis suggests four factors that contribute to multicultural patient-provider miscommunication. These are: 1) the detection of fetal mental retardation, particularly Down syndrome, is not always an appropriate reason to test; 2) the statistical information on age-related risk rates for chromosome abnormality may appear small when compared to more pressing vulnerabilities faced by poor and/or immigrant pregnant women and their families; 3) variation in individual reproductive histories and social values strongly shape acceptance and rejection of the test; and 4) most controversially, not everyone accepts the burdens of individual choice.
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Graduate program in gender studies and feminist theory, Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, New School for Social Research, New York City, USA.
D001294:Attitude to Health; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors