Willingness to pay for expanded non-invasive prenatal screening - An online discrete choice experiment from the perspective of women living in Western Australia

INTRODUCTION: Ongoing advances in genetic technology may soon provide prenatal screening for multiple genetic conditions.

AIMS: The aims were to investigate what prenatal screening test characteristics women prioritise and their willingness to pay for these tests.

METHODS: We designed an online survey incorporating a series of discrete choice scenarios. Dimensions and levels were selected based on existing prenatal tests and a hypothetical prenatal test that could non-invasively detect multiple genetic disorders in pregnancy. Participants were recruited from social media platforms. Data were analysed using conditional logistic regression and latent class analysis (LCA).

RESULTS: A total of 219 women completed the survey. Women with higher incomes and those with a tertiary education were willing to pay more than other groups. The maximum willingness to pay was AUD1870 (95% confidence interval: 1630, 2112) for a hypothetical non-invasive test to detect multiple genetic conditions in early pregnancy. An LCA demonstrated considerable heterogeneity in preferences, differing in both overall preference for testing and test characteristics considered most attractive. Among the participants, decision factors cited by 14.5% of participants were the risk of pregnancy loss, making them less likely to undergo testing; for 32.1% participants, accuracy was a major factor, and they were very likely to have testing; for 12.9%, test availability early in pregnancy was a decision factor.

CONCLUSIONS: If a non-invasive test that could detect the greatest number of genetic disorders in pregnancy was available, the priorities were test accuracy, risk of pregnancy loss and a test available early in pregnancy.