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Deafness is the most common sensory disability in humans, influencing all aspects of life, However, early diagnosis of hearing impairment and initiating the rehabilitation process are of great importance to enable the development of language and communication as soon as possible. We examined the differences in attitudes towards performing prenatal invasive tests and pregnancy terminations in Jewish and Muslim women in Israel due to deafness. Overall, 953 Israeli women, aged 18–46 years with a mean age of 32.0 (SD = 7.12), were enrolled. Of those, 68.7% were city dwellers and 31.3% were village dwellers, and 60.2% were Muslim women and 39.8% were Jewish women. All participants had a child with a hearing impairment or deafness. The group with no genetic hearing loss performed more prenatal invasive tests and pregnancy terminations than those with genetic hearing loss in both ethnic groups. Jewish women performed more invasive prenatal tests and, consequently, a pregnancy termination. Secular Jewish women more frequently underwent pregnancy terminations due to fetal deafness. Further genetic counseling and information concerning IVF and PGD procedures should be provided to the Muslim population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Deafness is the most common sensory disability in humans, influencing all aspects of life, However, early diagnosis of hearing impairment and initiating the rehabilitation process are of great importance to enable the development of language and communication as soon as possible. We examined the differences in attitudes towards performing prenatal invasive tests and pregnancy terminations in Jewish and Muslim women in Israel due to deafness. Overall, 953 Israeli women, aged 18–46 years with a mean age of 32.0 (SD = 7.12), were enrolled. Of those, 68.7% were city dwellers and 31.3% were village dwellers, and 60.2% were Muslim women and 39.8% were Jewish women. All participants had a child with a hearing impairment or deafness. The group with no genetic hearing loss performed more prenatal invasive tests and pregnancy terminations than those with genetic hearing loss in both ethnic groups. Jewish women performed more invasive prenatal tests and, consequently, a pregnancy termination. Secular Jewish women more frequently underwent pregnancy terminations due to fetal deafness. Further genetic counseling and information concerning IVF and PGD procedures should be provided to the Muslim population.

The development of prenatal tests has brought about profound changes in the health of pregnant women and their families in various ways. This study aims to find out the subjectivity of prenatal tests recognized by nursing students, and classify them into different types, and provide them as basic sources for developing educational programs on those students on prenatal tests. This study used Q methodology to develop the data. Fourteen nursing students of A university were told to classify 40 statements about prenatal tests. The collected data was analyzed using the QUANL PC Program. The nursing students' perception of prenatal tests was classified into two factors. The subjectivity types of prenatal tests were 'Type of regarding the strengths of prenatal tests as important' and 'Type of defending subjects as a nurse'. In the results of analyzing the subjectivity of prenatal tests, there were two factors, which explained 26.99% of total variance such as 17.12% for Factor 1 and 9.87% for Factor 2. The Factor 1 could be regarded as the factor that explains the perception of prenatal tests the most. Among 14 research subjects, eight subjects belonged to Factor 1 while six subjects belonged to Factor 2. This study provided the basic data for understanding and educating the clinical nurses' perception of prenatal tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Current algorithms to evaluate gestational age (GA) during pregnancy rely on hospital coding at delivery and are not applicable to non‐live births. We developed an algorithm using fertility procedures and fertility tests, without relying on delivery coding, to develop a novel GA algorithm in live‐births and stillbirths. Methods: Three pregnancy cohorts were identified from 16 health‐plans in the Sentinel System: 1) hospital admissions for live‐birth, 2) hospital admissions for stillbirth, and 3) medical chart‐confirmed stillbirths. Fertility procedures and prenatal tests, recommended within specific GA windows were evaluated for inclusion in our GA algorithm. Our GA algorithm was developed against a validated delivery‐based GA algorithm in live‐births, implemented within a sample of chart‐confirmed stillbirths, and compared to national estimates of GA at stillbirth. Results: Our algorithm, including fertility procedures and 11 prenatal tests, assigned a GA at delivery to 97.9% of live‐births and 92.6% of stillbirths. For live‐births (n = 4 701 207), it estimated GA within 2 weeks of a reference delivery‐based GA algorithm in 82.5% of pregnancies, with a mean difference of 3.7 days. In chart‐confirmed stillbirths (n = 49), it estimated GA within 2 weeks of the clinically recorded GA at delivery for 80% of pregnancies, with a mean difference of 11.1 days. Implementation of the algorithm in a cohort of stillbirths (n = 40 484) had an increased percentage of deliveries after 36 weeks compared to national estimates. Conclusions: In a population of primarily commercially‐insured pregnant women, fertility procedures and prenatal tests can estimate GA with sufficient sensitivity and accuracy for utility in pregnancy studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The fact that nurses involved in prenatal care have an adequate level of knowledge about these issues will lead to more effective and positive health outcomes in societies where they serve. There is limited research in Turkey on the knowledge levels and attitudes of nurses and student nurses involved in prenatal care. Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the knowledge level of nursing students about prenatal tests and foetal rights. Methods: The sample of this descriptive study consisted of 252 3rd and 4th-grade students studying at a public university. Frequency, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values, and Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were employed in the analysis of the data. Results: 47.6% of the students reported that they would reach the delivery decision of a baby with a high risk of an anomaly. A significant difference was found between the test scores of the groups in terms of student gender (p <0.05). The socio-demographic variables of the students were found to not affect their decisions on the delivery of a baby with a high risk of anomalies and their prenatal test knowledge scores (p> 0.05). Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Foetal rights, is recommended to be included in the nursing curriculum to raise the knowledge and awareness levels. Efforts aimed at contributing to facilitative student-patient relationships have a crucial role in shaping students' competency and in promoting high-quality patient care. Thus, in order to improve students' perceptions of prenatal tests and fetal rights, it is thought that students' awareness should be increased on these topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate how often pregnant women present to the obstetrician for ultrasound examination of the embryo or fetus and for performing the specific tests required during pregnancy. The distribution of pregnant patients by age group showed that the majority, respectively 39.09% belonged to the age groups 25-29 years, followed by the age group 30- 34 years with a percentage of 25.57%. The youngest pregnant woman was 16 years old and the oldest was 44 years old. Regarding the time of examination 21.05% of pregnant woman were present in the first trimester, 72.93% in the second trimester and 6.01 % in the third trimester. 59,39% of patients came in the second trimester of pregnancy for the assessment of the fetal morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Szefczyk-Polowczyk Lucyna, Wengel-Woźny Karina, Respondek Malwina, Pudło Hanna. Opieka prenatalna nad matką dziecka niepełnosprawnego = Prenatal care for the mother of a disabled child. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2015;5(6):321-332. ISSN 2391-8306. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18696 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/2015%3B5%286%29%3A321-332 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/works/567330 http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18696 Formerly Journal of Health Sciences. ISSN 1429-9623 / 2300-665X. Archives 2011 – 2014 http://journal.rsw.edu.pl/index.php/JHS/issue/archive Deklaracja. Specyfika i zawartość merytoryczna czasopisma nie ulega zmianie. Zgodnie z informacją MNiSW z dnia 2 czerwca 2014 r., że w roku 2014 nie będzie przeprowadzana ocena czasopism naukowych; czasopismo o zmienionym tytule otrzymuje tyle samo punktów co na wykazie czasopism naukowych z dnia 31 grudnia 2014 r. The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland parametric evaluation. Part B item 1089. (31.12.2014). © The Author (s) 2015; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland and Radom University in Radom, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 21.04.2015. Revised 28.05.2015. Accepted: 16.06.2015. Opieka prenatalna nad matką dziecka niepełnosprawnego Prenatal care for the mother of a disabled child Lucyna Szefczyk-Polowczyk1, Karina Wengel-Woźny2, Malwina Respondek3, Hanna Pudło3 1 Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Katowicach, Studium Doktoranckie Wydział Farmaceutyczny z Oddziałem Medycyny Laboratoryjnej w Sosnowcu, Polska 2 Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Katowicach, Studium Doktoranckie Wydział Nauk o Zdrowiu w Katowicach, Polska 3 Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Katowicach, Studium Doktoranckie Wydział Zdrowia Publicznego w Bytomiu, Polska 1 Medical University of Silesia, Ph.D. Department of Pharmacy with the Divisionof Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Poland 2 Medical University of Silesia, Ph.D. Department of Health Sciences in Katowice, Poland 3 Medical University of Silesia, Ph.D. Department of Public Health in Bytom, Poland Słowa kluczowe: badania prenatalne, matka, ciąża, niepełnosprawność. Key words: prenatal tests, mother, pregnancy, disability. Streszczenie Wprowadzenie i cel pracy: Dla większości rodziców wykonanie badań prenatalnych wiąże się z poczuciem bezpieczeństwa psychicznego związanego z prawidłowym przebiegiem ciąży. Diagnostyka prenatalna oferuje szerokie spektrum badań możliwych do przeprowadzenia na różnych etapach zaawansowania ciąży w celu wczesnego rozpoznania wad wrodzonych. Matka z rozpoznaną ciążą ryzyka powinna zostać objęta opieką specjalistyczną w ośrodku o najwyższym stopniu referencyjności, wówczas szanse na przeżycie, a nawet wyleczenie płodu wzrastają. Równie ważne jest zaspokojenie potrzeby informacji dotyczącej aspektów medycznych, ale także praktycznych możliwości uzyskania pomocy (psychologicznej, finansowej, dostępu do rehabilitacji itp.). Celem pracy była ocena istoty badań prenatalnych w diagnostyce niepełnosprawności dziecka oraz ocena dostępności do wsparcia psychologicznego i merytorycznego dla matek po otrzymaniu diagnozy. Materiał i metodyka: Badanie zostało przeprowadzone w pierwszym kwartale 2015 roku wśród matek dzieci niepełnosprawnych. Metodą badawczą w niniejszej pracy był sondaż, techniką badawczą-ankieta. Autorskim anonimowym kwestionariuszem ankiety objęto grupę 60 osób. Wyniki: Większość badanych kobiet przyznała, że ciąża była planowana. Niepokój budzi fakt, iż po otrzymaniu diagnozy znacznej grupie kobiet nie udzielono jakiegokolwiek wsparcia psychologicznego oraz nie poinformowano gdzie po porodzie można szukać pomocy związanej z leczeniem oraz rehabilitacją dziecka. Wnioski: W większości przypadków diagnoza o chorobie dziecka uzyskana podczas badania prenatalnego miała wpływ na dalszy przebieg ciąży. Ankietowane kobiety przyznają, iż nie uzyskały wystarczającego/bądź żadnego wsparcia psychologicznego oraz merytorycznego ze strony personelu medycznego. Abstract Introduction and objectives: For most parents perform prenatal diagnosis is associated with a sense of psychological security associated with normal pregnancy outcome. Prenatal diagnosis offers a wide range of research that can be carried out at various stages of pregnancy to early diagnosis of congenital malformations. Mother diagnosed with the risk of pregnancy should be included in specialist care at the resort with the highest degree of referentiality, then the chances of survival and even cure the fetus grow. Equally important it is to meet the need for information on medical aspects, but also the practical possibility of obtaining assistance. The aim of the study was to assess the substance of prenatal diagnosis of the child's disability and to assess the availability of psychological and informational support to mothers after receiving the diagnosis. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in the first quarter of 2015 years among mothers of children with disabilities. The research method in this study was a survey research-survey technique. Copyright anonymous questionnaire survey involved a group of 60 people. Results: The majority of women surveyed admitted that the pregnancy was planned. Concern is the fact that after receiving the diagnosis, a large group of women not given any psychological support and were not informed where postpartum, you can seek help related to the treatment and rehabilitation of the child. Conclusions: In most cases, the child's diagnosis of the disease was achieved in the antenatal have an impact on the further course of pregnancy. Women surveyed admitted that they had not obtained sufficient / or any substantial psychological support and medical staff from the.

National medical organizations recommend that during prenatal counseling sessions, healthcare providers discuss how having a child with Down syndrome (DS) might impact the family unit. Few studies, to date, have surveyed families about their life experiences. For this investigation, we examined 41 family attitudes, which were obtained from mailed questionnaires completed by 1,961 parents/guardians, 761 brothers/sisters, and 283 people with DS who were members of six DS non-profit organizations, chosen for their size, ethnic/racial diversities, and geographic distribution throughout the United States. About 83% of families reported to all being proud of the family member with DS, and 87% reported to all feeling love for the member with DS. Younger siblings (ages 9-11) were more likely to feel embarrassed by their sibling with DS if their parents/guardians also did. If one or more parents/guardians felt that their children without DS did have a good relationship with their child with DS, siblings were more likely to report that they loved and liked their brother/sister with DS. Overall, our data demonstrate that positive themes tend to dominate within modern-day families who have members with DS, although challenges were not insignificant for some. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the internet has become a popular medium for pregnant women seeking pregnancy-related information (Gao et al., 2012; Lagan, Sinclair & Kernohan, 2010; Romano, 2007; Song, West, Lundy & Smith-Dahmen, 2012). This study which utilized a qualitative approach explores Israeli women's online information seeking during pregnancy. Israel is an especially interesting and important case study for exploring pregnancy-related internet use, because Israel has the highest rate of prenatal testing in the world (Lavi, 2010). The findings of this study indicated that the most prominent type of information sought by Israeli pregnant women online was focused on prenatal tests. The internet as a source of pregnancy-related information seems to function not just as a means to fulfill personal informational needs, but also to represent a broader social phenomenon of a highly medicalized pregnancy that seem to intensify uncertainty and therefore, to increase the need to rely on the internet during pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide array of biomedical and genetic technologies is becoming available in both developed and developing nations. This situation is the cause of growing concern for health policy makers who must evaluate the utility of these technologies for their inclusion in public health insurance programs. Ideally, policy makers would have the information necessary to rationally allocate scarce resources, prioritise technologies, and ensure fair access to necessary health care services. The reality, however, is that policy makers often do not have such information. In this paper, we argue that the field of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), through the integration of ethical analyses (i.e., an "ethical HTA"), can enable Argentinean and other Latin American policy makers to better understand the soco-ethical concerns raised by new biotechnologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To examine the influence of numeracy on interpreting various risk communication formats. Design. A random sample of women (N=266) completed a questionnaire assessing numeracy and risk perception of prenatal test results and results of colon cancer screening tests. The authors examined the relationships between risk level (high v. low) and format of risk presentation (ratio, pictogram, or Paling Perspective Scale) and whether these relationships differed based on the numeracy skills of the participant. Results. The authors identified a significant (P < 0.001) 3-way interaction between format, risk level, and numeracy: high-numerate participants in the low-risk group perceived the test results as less risky compared with participants in the high-risk group (P < 0.001) with the Paling Perspective Scale but not with the other formats. For low-numerate participants, they did not observe differences between low- and high-risk scenarios for any of the 3 formats. The results were similar for the Down syndrome and colon cancer scenarios. Overall, the pictogram resulted in significantly lower risk ratings compared with the Paling Perspective Scale and the ratio with numerator 1 (P<0.001). Conclusion. Different communication formats may produce different risk perceptions, but the effect is qualified by patients' numeracy skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To evaluate various formats for the communication of prenatal test results. Design. In study 1 (N=400), female students completed a questionnaire assessing risk perception, affect, and perceived usefulness of prenatal test results. A randomized, 2 (risk level; low, high) x 4 (format; ratio with numerator 1, ratio with denominator 1000, Paling Perspective Scale, pictograms) design was used. Study 2 (N=200) employed a 2 (risk level; low, high) x 2 (format; Paling Perspective Scale, risk comparisons in numerical format) design. Results. In study 1, the Paling Perspective Scale resulted in a higher level of perceived risk across different risk levels compared with the other formats. Furthermore, participants in the low-risk group perceived the test results as less risky compared with participants in the high-risk group (P<0.001) when the Paling Perspective Scale was used. No significant differences between low and high risks were observed for the other 3 formats. In study 2, the Paling Perspective Scale evoked higher levels of perceived risks relative to the numerical presentation of risk comparisons. For both formats, we found that participants confronted with a high risk perceived test results as more risky compared with participants confronted with a low risk. Conclusion. The Paling Perspective Scale resulted in a higher level of perceived risk compared with the other formats. This effect must be taken into account when choosing a graphical or numerical format for risk communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnant women's knowledge of prenatal tests was assessed in face-to-face interviews. The focus of the study was on how physicians communicate test results to their clients and whether women possess enough information to make informed decisions. Thirty-five women located in the German-speaking part of Switzerland participated in the study, which was based on half-standardized interviews lasting about an hour. Standardized questions were used to measure women's knowledge of prenatal tests. In selecting women to participate in the study, we ensured that they were counseled by different physicians. Results showed that most participants overestimated the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. Most women had difficulties in interpreting a positive test result associated with blood tests (i.e., PAPP-A), but almost all women knew that this test provides a probabilistic outcome. Most women had very accurate knowledge of the risk of a miscarriage associated with invasive tests (i.e., amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling). A substantial percentage of the women, however, did not realize that the invasive tests are also probabilistic tests. Overall, results of our study suggest that approaches to risk communication vary across physicians. There seems to be no standardization in counseling. In addition, our results suggest that many pregnant women may lack the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions regarding prenatal tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noninvasive prenatal screening tests help identify genetic disorders in a fetus, but their take-up remains low in several countries. Using a regression discontinuity design, we test the causal effect of a policy that eliminated co-payments for noninvasive screening tests in Italy. We identify the treatment effects by a discontinuity in women's eligibility for a free test based on their conception date. We find that the policy increases the probability of women's undergoing noninvasive screening tests by 5.5 percentage points, and the effect varies by socioeconomic status. We do not find evidence of substitution effects with more expensive and riskier invasive diagnostic tests. In addition, the increase in take-up does not affect pregnancy termination or newborn health. We find some evidence of positive effects on mothers' health behaviors during pregnancy as measured by reductions in mothers' weight gain and hospital admissions during pregnancy, but these are statistically significant only at the 10 percent level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determined the predictive value of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) as a marker for adverse pregnancy outcomes., Material and Methods: This study was carried out at Dr. Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health Education and Research Hospital between 2009 and 2010. This study included a total of 1,177 pregnant women, including 170 in the study group and 1,007 in the control group. Pregnancy outcomes and characteristics were analyzed with regard to the MSAFP value., Results: Gestational week, birth weight and APGAR scores were significantly lower in the elevated MSAFP group (p < 0.001). Adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm delivery, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), oligohydramnios and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) rates were increased in the elevated MSAFP group., Conclusions: Although ultrasound outweighs as a screening method for neural tube defects and non-invasive prenatal testing outweighs for aneuploidy screening MSAFP level in the second trimester is still an important predictor for poor maternal/fetal outcomes.