Views of Canadian healthcare professionals on the future uses of non-invasive prenatal testing: a mixed method study.

Non-invasive prenatal testing's (NIPT) potential to screen for a wide range of conditions is receiving growing attention. This study explores Canadian healthcare professionals' perceptions towards NIPT's current and possible future uses, including paternity testing, sex determination, and fetal whole genome sequencing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten healthcare professionals, and another 184 participated in a survey.

A qualitative study of women and partners from Lebanon and Quebec regarding an expanded scope of noninvasive prenatal testing.

Background: In the near future, developments in non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) may offer couples the opportunity to expand the range of genetic conditions tested with this technology. This possibility raises a host of ethical and social concerns, such as the type of information (medical vs. non-medical information) that couples might be exposed to and how this might complicate their informed decision-making.

Noninvasive Prenatal Testing: Views of Canadian Pregnant Women and Their Partners Regarding Pressure and Societal Concerns.

Background: Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) provides important benefits yet raises ethical concerns. We surveyed Canadian pregnant women and their partners to explore their views regarding pressure to test and terminate a pregnancy, as well as other societal impacts that may result from the routinization of NIPT.

Methods: A questionnaire was offered (March 2015 to July 2016) to pregnant women and their partners at five healthcare facilities in four Canadian provinces.

Canadian Pregnant Women's Preferences Regarding NIPT for Down Syndrome: The Information They Want, How They Want to Get It, and With Whom They Want to Discuss It.

Objective: This study sought to assess Canadian pregnant women's and their partners' preferences for information about non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT).

Methods: Pregnant women and their partners across Canada were surveyed as part of the Personalized Genomics for prenatal Aneuploidy Screening Using maternal blood (PEGASUS) study.

Results: A total of 882 pregnant women and 395 partners participated.

The value of non-invasive prenatal testing: preferences of Canadian pregnant women, their partners, and health professionals regarding NIPT use and access.

Background: Canadian policies regarding the implementation and public coverage of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) are heterogeneous and shifting, with NIPT being publicly covered for high-risk pregnancies in some provinces, but not others. Such a diverse and evolving policy landscape provides fertile ground for examining the preferences of pregnant women, their partners, and health professionals regarding the implementation and coverage of NIPT by the public healthcare system, as well as the factors influencing their preferences, which is what the present study does.

Methods: In this paper, we report the results of three-large scale Canadian surveys, in which 882 pregnant women, 395 partners of pregnant women, and 184 healthcare professionals participated.