Evaluation of the introduction of the national Down syndrome screening program in the Netherlands: age-related uptake of prenatal screening and invasive diagnostic testing.

Abstract

To study the effect of different government prenatal screening (PNS) policies on the uptake of PNS and prenatal diagnostic testing (PND) over the periods 2001-2003 (PNS on request), 2004-2006 (permission to offer the first-trimester combined test (FCT) to women of advanced maternal age (AMA), with women aged <36 years informed on explicit request) and 2007-2010 (introduction of population screening) and to evaluate whether trends in uptake are related to maternal age. The indication AMA for PND is still warranted, and the costs for FCT are only reimbursed for AMA women.