Related Experiment Videos
Communication with patients during the prenatal testing procedure: an explorative qualitative study.
Myra van Zwieten1, Dick Willems, Lia Knegt
1Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Division Clinical Methods and Public Health, Department of General Practice, Family Medicine, P.O. Box 22700, 1100 DE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.c.vanzwieten@amc.uva.nl
Patient Education and Counseling
|January 13, 2006
Summary
Prenatal genetic counseling involves more than just pre- and post-test communication. An intermediate communication phase during testing allows for ongoing decision-making, enhancing patient involvement in the genetic testing process.
Area of Science:
- Medical Genetics
- Reproductive Medicine
- Healthcare Communication
Background:
- Prenatal genetic counseling traditionally involves distinct pre-test and post-test phases.
- The communication dynamics during the genetic testing procedure itself have been less explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and analyze a third, intermediate phase of communication during prenatal genetic testing.
- To explore the content and implications of this intermediate communication.
Main Methods:
- Secondary analysis of an observational study on clarifying indefinite testing results.
- Focused analysis of 13 testing trajectories involving communication with parents during the testing procedure.
Main Results:
- Intermediate communication content often mirrored pre-test counseling.
- In four cases, communication involved parents in decision-making regarding results still being processed.
Conclusions:
- Communication in prenatal genetic testing can be a continuous process, intertwined with the testing procedure.
- Continuous decision-making models may benefit from clarifying provider versus patient expertise.
- Further research is needed on distributed responsibilities in continuous decision-making during genetic diagnostics.