title: The role of genetic counseling on decisions of pregnant women aged 35 years or over regarding amniocentesis in Turkey.
abstract: We investigated the effects of genetic counseling given before amniocentesis that is given based on maternal serum screening (using the cut-off value of 1/250) and genetic sonogram results (+/- abnormal ultrasound marker) on pregnant women who are 35 years and older age. Their attitudes towards amniocentesis after genetic counseling were evaluated. Among 340 women, 223 (65.6%) were in the high-risk group and 117 (34.4%) were in the low-risk group according to non-invasive test results. After counseling, 216 pregnant women (167 cases have high-risk, 49 cases who had low-risk) decided to have amniocentesis while 124 women (56 with high-risk and 68 with low-risk) declined it. Fourteen abnormal karyotypes were detected. All pregnant women who had fetuses with chromosomal aberrations were in high-risk group. Our study shows that screening by non-invasive prenatal diagnostic tool has an effect on families' choice of amniocentesis. The use of these test results during counseling decreased the number of amniocentesis in a ratio of 36.5%.
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Department, Ankara University Medical School, 06100 Ankara, Turkey. hiruhi@medicine.ankara.edu.tr
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ilgin-Ruhi
authors.forename: Nüket
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yürür-Kutlay
authors.forename: Ajlan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tükün
authors.forename: Işik
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bökesoy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis / Q000523:psychology*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D014421:Turkey; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal