Patient willingness to participate in a clinical trial with preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate patients' interest in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) as a method for aneuploidy screening and their willingness to participate in a clinical trial using PGD.

DESIGN

Anonymous questionnaire.

SETTING

University infertility clinic.

PATIENT(S): Women seeking treatment for infertility at the study clinic.

INTERVENTION(S): Subjects completed a two-part structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic and fertility history questions, followed by opinion questions on testing for genetic diseases. The second portion of the questionnaire included opinion questions about willingness to use PGD and to participate in a clinical trial using PGD after reading a document explaining PGD.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Patients' interest in using PGD and willingness to participate in a clinical trial involving PGD.

RESULT(S): Before reading a description of PGD, 84% of participants indicated that they were interested in having their embryos tested. The majority (86%) remained interested in testing their embryos with PGD after reading the informational paragraph. Most (91%) of the women who remained interested in PGD also indicated a willingness to participate in a clinical trial involving PGD. Of the patients who initially were not interested in testing their embryos, nearly half of them (47%) indicated an interest in PGD after reading the informational paragraph, and nearly all of those who changed their mind were willing to be in a trial.

CONCLUSION(S): Many women undergoing IVF are interested in the possibility of utilizing PGD for aneuploidy screening. Better evidence is needed regarding outcomes using PGD for this indication before it can be routinely incorporated into practice. A clinical trial using PGD in this setting appears possible because a majority of the patients, in this survey, would be willing to participate.