Psychosocial consequences of screening programs in children
Hansen, D.; Dehlholm, B.
Nordisk Medicin 107(11): 280-282
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-1420 PMID: 1448343 Document Number: 402964
Owing to improved possibilities of early diagnosis, there has been increasing interest in screening children, particularly newborns. However, in the event of false-positive results or certain hereditary risk factors there is a danger of adverse psychosocial consequences, especially negative stigmatization (both of children and their families). Accordingly, except where neonatal screening may be essential for medical reasons, such screening programmes should preferably be scheduled for a later stage in life when the parents are less prone to anxiety about anything that might be interpreted as a threat to the well-being of their offspring.