Medical and non-medical factors influencing termination of pregnancy in Chinese women with fetal malformation / 中华围产医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the rate of termination of pregnancy (TOP) in gravidas with prenatally diagnosed fetal malformation and to analyze the influences of medical and non-medical factors on decision making.Methods This was a prospective cohort study. Gravidas who took part in a multidisciplinary consultation due to fetal malformation and finished a questionnaire after consulting from September 12, 2012 to May 2, 2013 were recruited. Exclusion criteria were chromosomal disorders and isolated abnormal ultrasound soft markers. The questionnaire survey was conducted to understand the patient's backgrounds and to collect their feedbacks on the consultation. Decisions of the gravidas on TOP were followed up by phone in 2014 and 2016. If a gravida chose to continue her pregnancy, her baby's outcome was also recorded.T test,Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, or rank-sum tests (Mann-Whitney or Wilcoxon) or Logistic regression was used for statistical analysis.Results (1) Altogether 229 gravidas were recruited and 10 of them were lost to follow-up, so 219 cases were finally analyzed. Among the 219 cases, 35.6% (78/219) chose to terminate their pregnancies. (2) Neonatal prognosis was predicted based on the type and severity of the disease and was divided into four levels including good prognosis (122 cases, 55.7%), medium prognosis (20 cases, 9.1%), poor prognosis (17 cases, 7.8%) and unsure prognosis (60 cases, 27.4%). (3) Gravidas who chose to terminate their pregnancies were younger than their counterparts choosing to continue to term (average age 27.8±4.1 vs 29.0±3.9,t=2.257,P<0.05). Gravidas who went to the consultation before the 24th gestational week carried double risk of TOP than those after the 24th gestational week [termination rate 52.5% (31/59) vs 29.4% (47/160),χ2=10.089,P<0.01). (4) Gravidas with fetal growth restriction (FGR) were at triple risk of TOP than those without (OR=2.850, 95%CI 1.323-6.140) after adjusting for maternal age, gestational age at consultation and prognostic evaluation. Comparing with the good prognosis group, in which the rate of TOP was 19%, the unsure (OR=2.354, 95%CI 1.108-5.004), medium (OR=16.188, 95%CI 4.732-55.372) and poor (OR=14.515, 95%CI 3.61-58.359) prognosis groups had higher risk of TOP. (5) There were 63 women informed us their reasons for TOP (multiple choices), among which 57 (90.5%) were due to unsure neonatal outcomes, and 10 (15.9%) were due to emotional factors. (6) Maternal satisfaction with neonatal prognosis was 2 to 5 points (medium score, ten-point system) lower in gravidas choosing to TOP than in those choosing to continue pregnancy regardless of good, unsure, or medium neonatal prognosis. No significant difference in maternal satisfaction was found among gravidas with poor neonatal prognosis.Conclusions The rate of TOP in gravidas with prenatally diagnosed fetal malformation remains high in China. Factors that can negatively influence the rate of TOP are consultation after the 24th gestational week, better perceived neonatal prognosis and higher maternal satisfaction with neonatal prognosis. Uncertainty of the neonatal prognosis is the leading cause of maternal dissatisfaction.