Background: Decsions about prenatal screening for trisomies are complex for some women. Mobile decision aids (mDAs) can help them make informed decisions based on their values and preferences.
Objective: To assess pregnant women's intention to use an mDA for prenatal screening of trisomies 21, 18, and 13.
Methods: This mixed-methods study in Quebec recruited a purposeful sample of women aged 18 or over, at least 16 weeks pregnant or who had given birth in the past year after a low-risk pregnancy. After they completed a paper-based decision aid, we assessed their intention, and its psychosocial determinants, to use a mobile version. Quantitative data underwent descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses; qualitative data were thematically analyzed.
Results: 67 pregnant women participated, mostly French-speaking (89.6 %), aged 25-34 (59.7 %). Mean intention to use the mDA was 4.92 (SD: 2.03). Beliefs about consequences (β:1.21; p < 0.0001) and social influence (β:0.17; p = 0.03) were significant predictors of intention, explaining 77.5 % of variance, and 63 % of women evaluated the proposed mDA positively.
Conclusions: Beliefs about consequences and social influence were the main pyschosocial factors associated with pregnant women's intention to use an mDA for prenatal screening.
Practice implications: Healthcare providers could increase uptake by adopting strategies that underline the social acceptability and benefits of mDAs.
Keywords: Behavior; Decision aid; Intention; Mobile decision aid; Prenatal screening; Shared decision-making.
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