title: Epidemiology of antepartum fetal testing.
abstract: Advances in perinatal and neonatal health care over the past few decades have resulted in a substantial reduction in perinatal mortality. Some of this improvement has been attributed to antepartum fetal surveillance techniques. The primary objective of antepartum fetal surveillance techniques is to avoid fetal deaths. An ideal secondary objective is to avoid neonatal complications related to intrauterine asphyxia. In this article, some of the difficulties in evaluating existing antepartum fetal surveillance techniques are highlighted. Some of the epidemiological methods for evaluating a screening test are reviewed and their importance discussed with reference to fetal testing procedures. Lastly, the possibility of considering indication-specific fetal testing to improve perinatal morbidity is examined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA.
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Ananth
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Smulian
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vintzileos
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005323:Fetal Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results