Oral Concurrent Session 6 - Quality, Equity & Public Health
Oral Concurrent Sessions
Sarah J. Weingarten, MD (she/her/hers)
Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellow
Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, NY, United States
Heather S. Lipkind, MD, MS (she/her/hers)
Division Director Maternal Fetal Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, New York, United States
ACOG endorses nondirective pretest counseling regarding prenatal genetic testing options. Pretest counseling is often performed by the obstetrician at the first prenatal visit. To provide more standardized and available genetic counseling, we initiated free monthly group genetics virtual sessions. Using survey data, we aimed to determine whether the sessions improved patients’ knowledge and comfort levels surrounding prenatal testing.
Study Design:
All English-speaking obstetric patients were encouraged to enroll in a virtual 60-minute webinar, led by a certified genetic counselor and an MFM. Pre- and post-session surveys were provided to all attendees, which included sociodemographics and a questionnaire modified from validated scales. Survey data were collected from March to June 2023. Patients were divided into two groups for score comparison, depending on whether they had prior pretest counseling as part of standard prenatal care. Statistical analyses included Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square, and ANOVA modeling for comparison of score changes.
Results:
Of the 231 patients who attended a webinar, 40% completed the surveys (Table 1). Prior to the sessions, 59% of patients reported feeling comfortable understanding their prenatal testing options compared to 99% after the sessions (p< 0.001). There was an increase in those reporting having the tools to make decisions about genetic testing (54% pre- vs 99% post-session, p< 0.001) and reporting that their decisions reflect what is important to them (64% pre- vs 81% post-session, p=0.009). The session was valuable to 96% of participants. There were no differences in pre- vs post-session scores related to anxiety. When comparing survey data among those who had prior standard counseling to those who had not, the improvement in scores remained present after adjusting for covariates (Table 1).
Conclusion:
Standardized group genetic counseling appears beneficial to patients, even among those with prior counseling by their obstetric providers. Future directions include assessment of a larger, more diverse patient population to support broader implementation.