Abstract
Significant gaps have been identified in parental understanding of CF newborn screening and the consequences of carrying an altered CF gene. Seven potential causes of psychosocial adversity arising from false positive newborn screening for CF have been identified. The current study aimed to increase parents understanding of CF, reduce their levels of stress, and investigate psychosocial adversity arising from false-positive screening. This national study was run over one year in the Republic of Ireland. Parents were recruited for the study following a diagnostic sweat test confirming their child carried a single altered CF gene. Parents were randomly assigned into a control and intervention group, with those in the intervention group receiving a carefully designed information pack. All parents took part in semi-structured interviews. Parents (n = 16) who received an information pack had significantly higher CF knowledge scores than parents (n = 16) in the control group. 66% of parents in the control group misunderstood the health implications of carrying an altered CF gene, no parents in the intervention group had the same misunderstanding. There was no significant difference in stress scores between the groups. Parents of infants who had more than one sweat test due to insufficient sweat quantity had higher overall stress percentiles (50%), than parents of infants who had one sweat test (30%), indicating greater parental stress. The combination of written and audio-visual information contained in the information pack successfully increased parents comprehension of CF. The study also evaluates the potential for psychosocial adversity following false positive newborn screening for CF.
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Acknowledgements
The crucial support of CF multi-disciplinary team members of participating hospitals. Thanks to the participating parents for their time and interest in improving the experience of parents in the future. This research completed in partial fulfilment of the requirement of a Masters of Science Degree of the University of Limerick.
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Ethical approval for this study was secured from the following ethics committees; 1) University of Limerick, 2) Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, 3) Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, 4) Adelaide and Meath Hospital incorporating the National Children’s Hospital / St. James’s Hospital, 5) Temple Street Children’s Hospital, 6) University College Hospital Cork, and 7) Galway University Hospital.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Quigley, S.J., Linnane, B., Connellan, S. et al. Psychosocial Distress and Knowledge Deficiencies in Parents of Children in Ireland Who Carry an Altered Cystic Fibrosis Gene. J Genet Counsel 27, 589–596 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-017-0150-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-017-0150-3