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Babak Khoshnood, MD, PhD, Béatrice Blondel, PhD, Catherine De Vigan, MD and Gérard Bréart, MD

The authors are with L’Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Villejuif, France.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Babak Khoshnood, MD, PhD, INSERM U149, 16 avenue Paul Vaillant-Couturier, Villejuif 94807, France (e-mail: khoshnood{at}vjf.inserm.fr).

Objectives. We sought to evaluate socioeconomic disparities in serum screening for Down syndrome and assess whether such disparities are more likely to reflect limits in access or information or, rather, informed decisionmaking.

Methods. A nationally representative sample of 12 869 French women completed interviews after giving birth.

Results. We found substantial disparities in the likelihood of (1) women not being offered screening, (2) screening not being offered as a result of late prenatal care, and (3) women not knowing whether or not they had undergone screening. Except in the case of nationality, there was essentially no evidence of differences in refusal of testing.

Conclusions. Rather than representing informed decisionmaking, socioeconomic disparities in screening for Down syndrome are mostly due to limits in access or to information.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Khoshnood, C. De Vigan, V. Vodovar, G. Breart, F. Goffinet, and B. Blondel Advances in Medical Technology and Creation of Disparities: The Case of Down Syndrome Am J Public Health, December 1, 2006; 96(12): 2139 - 2144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]