Perception of Prenatal Ultrasound by Pregnant Women

산전 초음파검사에 대한 산모의 인식도

The purpose of this study was to assess pregnant women's knowledge of, attitude to, and satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound and to determine the factors that influence their perception. A self-administered questionnaire survey was completed by two hundred eighty five pregnant women who visited the obstetric departments of three hospitals located in Seoul from October 17, 2000 to October 28, 2000. The major results are as follows. 1. Overall, the respondents did not fully understand the purpose of prenatal ultrasound. 92.2% of respondents stated that the main purpose of prenatal ultrasound was to check the fetus' age, growth and development but only 44.5% of respondents were aware of the fact that chromosomal abnormalities cannot be diagnosed only by prenatal ultrasound. The majority of respondents were aware of the diagnostic limitations of ultrasound. 2. While the majority of respondents were aware of the importance of pre-examination information, only 31.8% of respondents received such information from their health care providers. 3. Regarding the examination quality, 80.3% of respondents were satisfied with the competency of the examination. But more than 50% of respondents stated the cost and waiting time were not acceptable. 4. The knowledge of, attitude to, and satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound showed statistically significant differences according to the characteristics of each hospital. 5. From multiple regression analysis, the major components for knowledge of prenatal ultrasound were characteristics of hospitals, religion, income and gestational age. The major components for attitude toward prenatal ultrasound were characteristics of hospitals, religion and gestational age. The major components for satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound were characteristics of hospitals, income and drinking during the pregnancy. In conclusion, the respondents' perception of prenatal ultrasound is considerably low. More effective educational material or programs with prenatal ultrasound information should be provided to pregnant women prior to prenatal ultrasound examination. New strategies such as process reengineering are recommendable to increase the satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound.