Racial and ethnic differences in uptake of cell‐free fetal DNA aneuploidy screening in an urban safety net hospital

OBJECTIVE To identify racial disparities in cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) first-line aneuploidy screening use among advanced maternal age women at a safety net hospital. STUDY DESIGN This retrospective cohort study of women 35 and older who delivered at Boston Medical Center from 2012 to 2015 compared to women who used cffDNA for first-line aneuploidy screening to those who did not. Maternal conventional demographics and social determinants of health were collected. We investigated the relationship between race and odds of cffDNA use, adjusting for covariates by stepwise logistic regression. RESULTS We identified 1223 women. Seventy-two percent were publicly insured. Upon adjusting for parity, prenatal care site, year of delivery, and insurance status, odds of cffNDA use remained lower for Black and Hispanic women (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.30, 0.71 and aOR 0.34 [0.21, 0.55]) compared to White women. Language proved to be an effect modifier among Hispanic women that attenuated but did not resolve the disparity in use among Hispanic compared to White women. Racial differences in cffDNA use persisted across the study period. CONCLUSION Disparity in cffDNA screening uptake exists by race in this diverse urban population. The gap in utilization between Hispanic and White women may be related to primary preferred language.