A Randomized Trial of Chatbot for Prenatal Genetic Counseling
Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Summary
During pregnancy, all pregnant people are offered tests to look for genetic conditions in the baby. However, there isn't a standard way of giving this information to patients. Doctors have a lot of things to discuss during the first prenatal visit and don't always have time to explain genetics in detail. Also, not everyone has access to genetic counselors. Prenatal genetics can be confusing, especially for people who haven't had a lot of formal education or who speak languages other than English. There might be misunderstandings about what these tests can find and what their benefits or risks are for these tests. Mobile apps, like chatbots, could be a helpful way to give information about prenatal genetics. Almost everyone has a cell phone, and a chatbot can let people learn at their own speed and whenever they want. The goal of this study is to see if a chatbot app Prenatal GENEie can teach pregnant women about prenatal genetics, and compare the chatbot to talking with a genetic counselor in person. The study wants to answer these main questions: * Does the Prenatal GENEie help pregnant patients learn about prenatal genetics the same way as a meeting with a genetic counselor? * Can the Prenatal GENEie and in-person counseling both help people make decisions about whether they want prenatal genetic testing? The researchers will compare the chatbot Prenatal GENEie with in-person counseling to see if the chatbot teaches people about prenatal genetics in a similar way. Participants will: * Take a test to check what they already know about prenatal genetics prior to the intervention * Use the chatbot or have an in-person meeting with a genetic counselor * Take a test after using the chatbot or meeting with a counselor to see how much their knowledge has improved * Fill out a survey about how comfortable they feel with their decision to do or not do prenatal genetic testing
Description
Current recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) call for all pregnant people to be offered screening and diagnostic testing options for aneuploidy, including maternal serum screening, cell-free fetal DNA (cfDNA), chorionic villus sampling, amniocentesis, and carrier screening for cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy. As a result, the nearly 4 million pregnant people receiving prenatal care in the United States annually require access to associated, and complex, prenatal genetic counseling. Additionally, access to pregnancy terminations has rad…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–55 years
- Sex
- Female
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * English or Spanish speaking with ability to read and write * Gestational age \<20 weeks * Access to smartphone or tablet (through personal use or study) Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have already had genetic counseling related to current pregnancy * h/o trisomy, major fetal anomaly. or aneuploidy in previous pregnancy * Parent with Robertsonian translocation * Twins, vanishing twin, multi-gestation pregnancy * Fetal anomaly noted in early pregnancy * In- vitro fertilization with pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT-A or PGT-M)
Interventions
- OtherPrenatal GENEie Chatbot
Patient Educational Phone Chatbot Application for Prenatal Genetics in English \& Spanish
- OtherIn-person genetic counseling
Standard in-person genetic counseling for prenatal genetics education
Location
- Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island