PEDIATRICS Vol. 72 No. 6 December 1983, pp. 807-812
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Effect of Informed Parental Consent on Mothers' Knowledge of Newborn Screening

Neil A. Holtzman MD1, Ruth Faden PhD, MPH1, A. Judith Chwalow DrPH1, and Susan D. Horn PhD1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Department of Health Services Administration, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore

To determine whether knowledge was improved as a result of obtaining informed consent from parents for newborn screening of their infants for phenylketonuria (PKU) and other hereditary metabolic disorders, new mothers in seven Maryland hospitals were interviewed either before receiving a standard disclosure (n = 210) or after giving consent (n = 418). The mean knowledge score of the women interviewed after giving consent was significantly higher (P < .001). Receiving the disclosure was a more powerful predictor of knowledge score, accounting for 40% of the variance, than demographic factors, which accounted for 9%. Women whose consent was obtained just prior to discharge tended to have lower knowledge scores than women whose consent was obtained earlier (P = .03). Women with higher knowledge scores were somewhat less likely to favor consent than women with lower scores. Although consent may not be appropriate for some low-risk procedures, informing parents can be easily and inexpensively accomplished.

Key Words: informed consent • health education • public policy • genetic screening • newborns

Submitted on August 6, 1982
Accepted on March 30, 1983




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