Opinion about genetic information, prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination; Analysis in a sample of Italian women

Advances in genetics have created promising possibilities for the diagnosis and prevention of genetic disease. To investigate the information among female population about prenatal diagnostic technologies, the availability of genetic centres and to evaluate the approach of women towards ethical aspects related to genetic diseases, we administered a questionnaire to women visiting a private, no-profit, gynaecological centre. The questionnaire consists of twenty-seven items, divided into three main topics. The first part concerns sociodemographical items. The second part evaluates the information that women have about genetic diseases and the genetic counseling centres. In the third part of the questionnaire different genetic diseases are described in simple terms in order to evaluate women perception of the severity of disorders and their behaviour regarding prenatal diagnosis and abortion. The analysis of a sample of 50 subjects revealed that the major source of information about genetics is represented by mass-media and only a minority of persons received direct information from their general pratictioner. The majority of subjects considered all the genetic diseases as serious disorders. Women ask for prenatal diagnosis in almost all the genetic conditions, with no relation to the severity of the disease. On the contrary, women's behaviour on pregnancy termination regarding the same disorders appear to be more closely related to the personal perception of the severity of the disease. These results allow us to evaluate women's opinion about ethical aspects of prenatal diagnosis and the new technologies applied to diagnosis of genetic diseases. This is an additional tool to modulate our approach to improve the patients' information and to make more conscious the counsellees' decision making.