title: Down syndrome screening in the United States in 2001 and 2007: a survey of maternal-fetal medicine specialists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine changes in screening and performance of invasive diagnostic procedures for Down syndrome between 2001 and 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine members completed a survey in 2007 regarding screening tests and diagnostic procedures for Down syndrome. With the use of descriptive statistics, the chi(2) test, and the Student t test, responses from 2007 were compared with responses from a similar 2001 survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Performance of first-trimester screening more than doubled from 2001-2007 (43.1% in 2001, 97.3% in 2007; P < .0001). Between 2001 and 2007, the use of the quad screen increased 10-fold (8.5% in 2001, 85.6% in 2007; P < .0001). There was an estimated 20% decrease in invasive diagnostic procedures that were performed in risk-positive women (53.7% in 2001, 34.2% in 2007; P < .0001). In 2007, the average fetal loss rates that were quoted by maternal-fetal medicine specialists after chorionic villous sampling was 1:160 and after an amniocentesis was 1:493.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Down syndrome screening evolved from 2001-2007, with an increasing emphasis on first-trimester screening. With more efficacious screening, the number of invasive procedures has declined.
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Yu Ming Victor
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benn
authors.forename: Winston
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bolnick
authors.forename: Anne Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Prabulos
authors.forename: James F X
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Egan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis / Q000639:trends; D002568:Certification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015193:Chorionic Villi Sampling / Q000639:trends; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000592:standards; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000639:trends*; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal; D014481:United States