Patient attitudes toward testing for maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein values when results are false-positive or true-negative.

We investigated the attitudes toward the maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) test of patients whose results from MSAFP testing were either false-positive or true-negative. Forty-six women who had previous false-positive results from MSAFP testing and 46 who had previous true-negative values participated. Patients were matched for age and socioeconomic status, and all were delivered of normal neonates. A significantly larger number of patients in the group with false-positive results believed they had not understood the MSAFP test than in the group with true-negative results (19.6% vs 0%). Significantly more women in the "false-positive" group felt that the test caused anxiety than in the "true-negative" group (65.2% vs 17.4%). Fewer women in the false-positive group than in the true-negative group said they would have MSAFP testing in a subsequent pregnancy (58.7% vs 91.3%). Further, the women in the false-positive group were less likely than those in the true-negative group to recommend MSAFP testing to a friend (52.1% vs 80.4%). In patients whose results were false-positive, there was a significant relationship between the patient's perception of understanding the MSAFP test and her attitude toward MSAFP testing.