Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Objective: To assess how prenatal screening and diagnostic testing have impacted the diagnosis, termination and birth prevalence of Down syndrome in Western Australia (1980-2013). Method: We analysed trends in termination rates and birth prevalence of Down syndrome...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31843 |
| _version_ | 1848753496574132224 |
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| author | Maxwell, S. Bower, C. O'Leary, Peter |
| author_facet | Maxwell, S. Bower, C. O'Leary, Peter |
| author_sort | Maxwell, S. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Objective: To assess how prenatal screening and diagnostic testing have impacted the diagnosis, termination and birth prevalence of Down syndrome in Western Australia (1980-2013). Method: We analysed trends in termination rates and birth prevalence of Down syndrome using aggregated data (1980-2013). We modelled the expected live-birth rate and prevalence of Down syndrome and compared different eras of screening and diagnosis with respect to the impact on live-birth rate and prevalence of Down syndrome. Results: Between 1980 and 2013, the rate of Down syndrome pregnancies increased, corresponding to a greater proportion of babies born to older women. Following the introduction of screening in 1994, the rate of live-born infants with Down syndrome reduced significantly (p=0.001). The rate of terminations of pregnancy for Down syndrome remained stable over this period. In the absence of termination, the Down syndrome live-birth rate would have risen from 1.1 per 1000 to 2.17 per 1000 between 1980 and 2013. Conclusion: Prenatal testing in Western Australia has reduced the birth prevalence of Down syndrome despite an increased rate of Down syndrome pregnancies. Most women for whom a prenatal diagnosis of fetal Down syndrome is made, chose to terminate the pregnancy (93%), and this proportion has not changed over the study period. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:25:26Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-31843 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:25:26Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-318432017-09-13T15:15:33Z Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013 Maxwell, S. Bower, C. O'Leary, Peter © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Objective: To assess how prenatal screening and diagnostic testing have impacted the diagnosis, termination and birth prevalence of Down syndrome in Western Australia (1980-2013). Method: We analysed trends in termination rates and birth prevalence of Down syndrome using aggregated data (1980-2013). We modelled the expected live-birth rate and prevalence of Down syndrome and compared different eras of screening and diagnosis with respect to the impact on live-birth rate and prevalence of Down syndrome. Results: Between 1980 and 2013, the rate of Down syndrome pregnancies increased, corresponding to a greater proportion of babies born to older women. Following the introduction of screening in 1994, the rate of live-born infants with Down syndrome reduced significantly (p=0.001). The rate of terminations of pregnancy for Down syndrome remained stable over this period. In the absence of termination, the Down syndrome live-birth rate would have risen from 1.1 per 1000 to 2.17 per 1000 between 1980 and 2013. Conclusion: Prenatal testing in Western Australia has reduced the birth prevalence of Down syndrome despite an increased rate of Down syndrome pregnancies. Most women for whom a prenatal diagnosis of fetal Down syndrome is made, chose to terminate the pregnancy (93%), and this proportion has not changed over the study period. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31843 10.1002/pd.4698 restricted |
| spellingShingle | Maxwell, S. Bower, C. O'Leary, Peter Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013 |
| title | Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013 |
| title_full | Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013 |
| title_fullStr | Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013 |
| title_short | Impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in Down syndrome births and terminations in Western Australia 1980 to 2013 |
| title_sort | impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing on trends in down syndrome births and terminations in western australia 1980 to 2013 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31843 |