Informal Prenatal Genetic Screening Education: What can you learn from Google and YouTube?

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Public Health
• Health Communication

Background:

• Prenatal screening offers valuable information for expectant parents.
• Access to reliable online resources is crucial for informed decision-making.
• Evaluating the quality of online health information is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the availability and quality of online educational and decision support tools for prenatal screening.
• To identify search terms and evaluate online resources accessible to patients.
• To characterize the information content, decision support features, and readability of these resources.

Main Methods:

• Conducted an environmental scan using Google Trends for prenatal screening search terms.
• Identified and compiled a list of accessible websites and YouTube videos.
• Analyzed resources for educational content, decision support qualities, and readability (PEMAT-P scores).

Main Results:

• Analyzed 50 websites (62 resources) and 39 YouTube videos from diverse sources.
• Website readability scores ranged from 50% to 92% (median 74%).
• Few resources met decision support standards; videos were more likely to include values clarification.

Conclusions:

• Online prenatal screening information varies significantly in quality and readability.
• Many resources lack essential decision-making components, hindering patient comprehension.
• Healthcare providers must actively guide patients through online materials and screening outcomes.