Abstract The objectives of this study were to determine current usage of amniocentesis by women of advanced maternal age in a southwestern Ohio county and to determine potential usage levels by surveying women not utilizing the procedure to understand their reasons. For women age 35 and older giving birth in Hamilton County, Ohio, the estimated percentage using amniocentesis was 3.9 in 1978, 7.6 in 1979, and 13.3 in 1980. Approximately comparable statewide utilization rates were 7.0, 11.5, and 17.2 respectively. A telephone survey during the summer of 1980 of 81 Hamilton County women age 35 and older recently giving birth to a normal baby found four main reasons why they did not utilize amniocentesis: (1) they did not feel at an increased risk (29.6 per cent); (2) they had never heard of the test (24.7 per cent); (3) they were opposed to abortion (21.0 per cent); and (4) no one suggested they have the test done (19.8 per cent). Their physicians reported that 81 per cent of these women had received prenata...
[1]
C. Huether,et al.
Influence of demographic factors on annual Down's syndrome births in Ohio, 1970-1979, and the United States, 1920-1979.
,
1982,
American journal of epidemiology.
[2]
A. Lippman-Hand,et al.
Prenatal diagnosis for the detection of down syndrome: Why are so few eligible women tested?
,
1981,
Prenatal diagnosis.
[3]
G. Oakley,et al.
Prenatal chromosomal diagnosis. Racial and geographic variation for older women in Georgia.
,
1980,
JAMA.
[4]
D. Luthy,et al.
Prenatal genetic diagnosis and elective abortion in women over 35: utilization and relative impact on the birth prevalence of Down syndrome in Washington State.
,
1980,
American journal of medical genetics.