Prenatal sickle cell screening education effect on the follow-up rates of infants with sickle cell trait

Objective: To assess the effect of prenatal education about newborn sickle cell screening on parents' compliance with the follow-up for infants with s ickle cell trait. Subjects: Expectant mothers whose prenatal education incl uded information about newborn sickle cell screening were the study group, and those whose prenatal education did not include such information were th e control group. Methods: Mothers of infants with sickle cell trait were gi ven the opportunity for in-person notification of screening results and fol low-up counseling/education. Follow-up rates, anxiety and retention of info rmation were assessed for the case-control study. Results: There were a tot al of 15 670 infants born in the region, and 647 infants were identified wi th sickle cell trait. The follow-up rate for parents of infants with sickle cell trait was significantly higher (76%) for study group than the control group (49%) (P = 0.0006). Parents whose prenatal education included sickle cell hemoglobinopathy information retained significantly more of the infor mation given during the post-natal education than did controls. Conclusion: Our data suggest that prenatal education for expectant mothers which inclu des information about newborn sickle cell screening significantly increases the follow-up rate for infants with sickle cell trait and contributes to a greater retention of information. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. A ll rights reserved.