Prenatal Screening for Down Syndrome: How Acceptable is it among Pregnant Nigerian Women?

Background And Objective: Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal anomaly found among newborns. Prenatal screening can inform pregnant women and their partners of the risk of their baby having Down syndrome. The study aimed to determine the awareness and attitude of Nigerian pregnant women towards prenatal screening for Down syndrome.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study among pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics at two teaching hospitals in Nigeria between January and June 2018. Data on their awareness and attitude towards Down syndrome screening were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and analysed with SPSS version 23.0. Level of significance was set at p<0.05 and 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results: Four hundred and four women participated in the study and their mean age was 30.8±4.87 years. Overall, 65.1% were aware of Down syndrome and the media (54.4%) was their main source of information. Less than half (44.3%) of them had a positive attitude towards Down syndrome screening. Respondents with primary (AOR=0.20, 95% CI=1.175-21.687) and secondary education (AOR=0.34, 95% CI=1.494-5.867) were less likely to be aware of Down syndrome, while having a positive attitude towards Down syndrome screening (AOR=2.07, 95% CI=0.314-0.745) and being engaged in skilled occupation (AOR=3.26, 95% CI=0.135-0.697) predicted awareness. A positive attitude towards Down syndrome screening was predicted by being engaged in skilled (AOR=2.51, 95% CI=0.185-0.858) and semi-skilled (AOR=2.37, 95% CI=0.205-0.870) occupation.

Conclusion: Though majority of pregnant women had good awareness of Down syndrome; however, less than half of them had a positive attitude towards the screening test. The awareness and positive attitude exhibited by the women in this study were influenced by their level of education and occupation.