Views of Finnish doctors on fetal screening

Objective To investigate the views of Finnish doctors concerning fetal scre ening. Design Anonymous, questionnaire survey conducted in 1996-1997. Population A representative sample of gynaecologists, paediatricians and ge neral practitioners in Finland. Both leading doctors and ordinary practitio ners were included. Results Most doctors said that serum screening for Down's syndrome and ultr asound screening for structural abnormalities should be available for all p regnant women. In response to more direct questions, doctors acknowledged m any drawbacks to Down's serum screening, notably the worry due to false pos itives. Only a few were against abortion, and a fifth said fetal screening is partly based on a eugenic ideology. There were some differences between the different doctor groups, bur the overall impression was of similarity r ather than divergence, both between the different specialist groups, and by the position of the doctor (leading vs ordinary). Conclusions Finnish doctors support current fetal screening, but many ackno wledged resulting ethical, psychological, and social problems.