Study: Broader prenatal genetic testing desired
January 30th, 2009From the Journal of Genetic Counseling (original article by subscription only), Medpagetoday.com:
In a recent survey of 999 people who sought genetic counseling, a majority were eager for a wider spectrum of prenatal genetic tests, according to a recent study led by Feighanne Hathaway of New York University School of Medicine.
Seventy-five percent of survey respondents said they would screen for mental retardation, and more than half said they would screen for deafness (54%), blindness (56%), heart disease (52%) and cancer (51%).
Respondents were also asked whether they would test for diseases that caused death within a defined period of time after birth. Some 49.3% said they would screen for a condition that caused death by the age of five.
Other conditions for which some respondents wanted genetic testing: athletic ability (10%), superior intelligence (12.6%), height (10.4%) and longevity (9.2%).

