title: Awareness of fetal echo in Indian scenario.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fetal echocardiography is a well established sensitive tool to diagnose congenital heart disease (CHD) in utero. One of the determinants of effective utilization of fetal echocardiography is its awareness in the general population. The present hospital based study was undertaken to assess the awareness of the need for fetal echocardiography amongst Indian parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand one hundred and thirty eight consecutive parents who visited the pediatric cardiology outpatient department of a tertiary care centre over a period of two months were asked to fill up a questionnaire that included their demographic data, educational status, history of CHD in children, awareness of fetal echocardiography and source of information and timing of fetal echocardiogram if performed. The data was categorized and awareness was noted in different groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The awareness in the study population was 2.2%. Awareness was found to be similar across the study population irrespective of the demographics and high risk status of the parents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The awareness of fetal echocardiography, an important tool in reducing the incidence of complex CHD, thereby impacting public health, is alarmingly low in the population studied. Appropriate action to increase awareness of fetal echocardiography needs to be looked into.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Dhanya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Warrier
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saraf
authors.forename: Sunita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maheshwari
authors.forename: Pv
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suresh
authors.forename: Sejal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
keywords: Awareness; congenital heart disease; fetal echocardiography