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- Title
Perceived importance and likelihood of anxiety caused by antenatal screening among HTLV national register survey respondents in the UK.
- Authors
R., Wilkie; K., Davison; D., Dhasmana; S., Brailsford; G., Taylor
- Abstract
Objectives There have been no surveys regarding the acceptability of routine testing for HTLV infection in pregnancy to reduce risk of vertical transmission. The latest antenatal screening review considering HTLV is currently underway. To inform the review we sought, among HTLV National Register participants, to a) understand the perceived importance of HTLV antenatal screening in the UK and b) determine the level of anxiety this might cause. Methods The HTLV National Register 8th follow up questionnaire, disseminated in winter 2022, included new questions regarding potential antenatal screening for HTLV infection. Responses were scored on importance, acceptability, anxiety, and necessity. The proportion of responses indicating agreement were calculated along with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Non-responses were excluded. Results Among 99 respondents from 235 register participants who were asked, where 95% were HTLV-positive and 80% were female, agreement towards opt-in and routine screening were 94.3% (CI: 87.2%-98.1%), and 95.3% (CI: 89.7%-98.9%) respectively. In contrast, the proportion reporting anxiety associated with antenatal HTLV testing was 30.9% (CI: 21.1%-42.1%). Among respondents, 86.1% indicated post-test counselling was important (CI: 76.5%-92.8%). Reported support for asking not to breastfeed if test positive was 83.53% (CI 73.9%-90.7%). Discussion Our survey indicated strong support for the introduction of antenatal HTLV screening, despite acknowledging that this could cause moderate anxiety with follow-up counselling important. However, 95% of respondents were HTLV-positive so may not be representative of all pregnant women. Moderate levels of anxiety were similarly reported prior to the introduction of routine HIV screening in the UK among 904 pregnant women in London of which 88% agreed to voluntary testing at antenatal appointments, with a 0.2% positivity rate. Further investigation among a wider cohort with a lower proportion of HTLVpositive respondents would allow better understanding of attitudes towards antenatal screening to inform the current review.
- Publication
AIDS Reviews, 2023, Vol 25, p28
- ISSN
1139-6121
- Publication type
Article