Chinese women's preferences for prenatal diagnostic procedure and their willingness to trade between procedures

Objective: To assess Chinese women's preference for the choice of a prenatal diagnosis test, karyotyping or rapid aneuploidy, and its relationship to maternal psychological state.

Study design: Three hundred consenting women completed a self administered structured questionnaire which documented their psychological state and their preferred choice of diagnostic test for chromosomal abnormality using a discrete choice experiment design. Diagnostic tests were categorised according to three attributes: completeness of chromosomal information, procedure-to-result time interval and cost.

Results: Participants indicated a preference towards the karyotype test irrespective of cost and procedure-to-result time interval. The value of obtaining the extra information provided by karyotyping above that of rapid aneuploidy was pound267.82 (95% CI 226.71-323.31). Women would only accept the rapid aneuploidy test if results where available 18 days sooner than if they were undergoing a karyotyping test. Among women who traded between diagnostic tests, the value of extra chromosomal information was reduced to pound153.83 (95% CI 125.81-192.19). Women with high trait anxiety scores (>40) did not preferentially select one test.

Conclusion: Chinese women showed a strong preference towards performing a full karyotype test and having a full chromosomal assessment performed for their pregnancy.