Uptake of Down syndrome screening in an Australian Vietnamese population

Abstract

It has been previously shown that the uptake of prenatal diagnosis by Victorian women of a non-English speaking background is significantly lower than that of comparable English speaking women. To explore this further we have examined the uptake of Down syndrome screening and diagnosis by Vietnamese women attending a community-based antenatal clinic in metropolitan Melbourne over a two year period. Of the 207 women studied, 161 (78%) were offered screening or diagnosis and of these women 139 (86%, 95%CI 81-92%) accepted the offer, representing 67% (95%CI 61-74%) of the entire population. Of the 127 women who had screening, rather than diagnosis, 12 (9%) had an 'increased risk' result. Eleven of these women accepted diagnosis. We also explored the reasons why 45 (22%) of women were not offered screening. Almost half (44%) of these women first attended the clinic at a too advanced stage of gestation but in 25 women there were no obvious reasons. These results are discussed in the context of current prenatal screening and diagnostic practice in Victoria and simple recommendations made.