Patient Experience with Karyotyping After First Trimester Miscarriage: A National Survey

To assess the frequency of chromosome testing after first trimester miscarriage as well as to investigate patient experiences.

An anonymous online questionnaire was developed and made available. Inclusion criteria were female, age ≥ 18, first trimester miscarriage, occurrence of miscarriage within the past year, miscarriage care provided in the United States, and survey completion.

Of the 980 women who started the survey, 448 met inclusion criteria. Of those, 37 participants had chromosome testing on the miscarriage specimen. Of those who did not have testing, 66% said they wished they had done so at the time of miscarriage, and 67% said they would still want testing if it were available today. There was no correlation between patient age and chromosome testing. Chromosome testing increased in frequency with higher number of miscarriages, although the low number of women with chromosome testing limits our ability to draw definitive conclusions. On average, providers needed to spend 15-20 minutes with patients for them to feel like it was "enough time."

In this national survey we found that chromosome testing is performed in approximately 8% of first trimester miscarriages. Our data indicate that the majority of patients experiencing first trimester miscarriage desire chromosome testing.