Healthcare professionals' attitudes towards termination of pregnancy at viable stage.
Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand
; 100(1): 74-83, 2021 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32740906
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Upon prenatal diagnosis of congenital malformations, termination of pregnancy (TOP) may be an option, sometimes at a gestational age when the fetus is already viable (late TOP). We aimed to study attitudes towards late TOP of all tertiary healthcare professionals involved in late TOP practice. MATERIAL ANDMETHODS:
A mail survey was conducted among all physicians and paramedical professionals involved in late TOP decision-making in all eight centers with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Flanders, Belgium (N = 117). The questionnaire contained general and case-based attitude items.RESULTS:
Response rate was 79%. Respondents were either physicians (51.1%) or paramedical professionals (49.9%). The composition of professionals involved in late TOP decision-making was heterogeneous between the eight centers. Late TOP was highly accepted in both lethal fetal conditions (100%) and serious (but not lethal) fetal conditions (95.6%). Where the fetus is healthy, 19.8% of respondents agreed with late TOP for maternal psychological problems and fewer respondents (13.2%) agreed with late TOP in the case of maternal socio-economic problems (P = .002). Physicians more often preferred feticide over neonatal palliative care in the case of non-lethal fetal conditions compared with paramedical professionals (68.1% vs 53.2%, P = .013). Almost nine out of ten respondents (89.1%) agreed that in the event of a serious (non-lethal) neonatal condition, administering drugs with the explicit intention to end neonatal life was acceptable. Behavioral intentions indicate that even in situations with an unclear diagnosis and unpredictable prognosis, 85.6% of professionals would still consider late TOP.CONCLUSIONS:
Healthcare professionals practicing late TOP in Flanders, Belgium have a high degree of tolerance towards late TOP, irrespective of sociodemographic factors, and are demanding legislative change regarding active life-ending in the fetal and neonatal periods. Further research should explore the correlation of attitudes to late TOP with actual medical decisions taken in daily clinical practice.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Actitud del Personal de Salud
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Aborto Inducido
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Personal de Salud
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Enfermedades Fetales
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Qualitative_research
Límite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Pregnancy
País como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article