Outcomes of pregnancies diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome: the possible influence of health professionals.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the association between the outcomes of pregnancies diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and the specialty of the health professional providing pre- and post-diagnostic counselling.


METHODS
Data were extracted from the case notes of the 111 cases of KS diagnosed prenatally between 1986 and 1997 in eight geographical regions in five European countries. The data extracted included: outcome of pregnancy, maternal age, social class, parity, gestational age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis and specialties of the health professionals conducting pre- and post-diagnosis consultations.


RESULTS
The overall termination rate was 44% (49/111: 95% confidence interval: 35 to 54). Using multivariable logistic regression analysis, the only significant predictor of continuation of the pregnancy was the specialties of the health professionals conducting post-diagnosis counselling: the affected pregnancy was more likely to continue when post-diagnosis counselling involved only a genetics specialist (relative risk: 2.42 (1.14 to 5.92)).


CONCLUSIONS
There is an association between whether or not a woman terminates a pregnancy affected by an unfamiliar fetal anomaly and the professional background of the health professional providing post-diagnostic counselling. The causal nature of this association remains to be determined.
Psychology and Genetics Research Group, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, 5th Floor, Thomas Guy House, Guy's Campus, London, SE1 9RT, UK. theresa.marteau@kcl.ac.uk
Theresa M
TM
Marteau
Irma
I
Nippert
Sue
S
Hall
Caroline
C
Limbert
Margaret
M
Reid
Martin
M
Bobrow
Alan
A
Cameron
Martina
M
Cornel
Mariet
M
van Diem
Bernd
B
Eiben
Sixto
S
García-Miñaur
Janine
J
Goujard
Donna
D
Kirwan
Karen
K
McIntosh
Peter
P
Soothill
Corien
C
Verschuuren-Bemelmans
Catherine
C
de Vigan
Stephen
S
Walkinshaw
Lenore
L
Abramsky
Frank
F
Louwen
Peter
P
Miny
Jürgen
J
Horst
D000025:Abortion, Eugenic / Q000941:ethics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D006801:Humans; D007713:Klinefelter Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies