Peer-reviewed article
General Practitioners perspectives on infant telomere length screening after a pregnancy complication: a qualitative analysis.
Puglisi CJ, McDonough J, Bianco-Miotto T, Grieger JA ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study explores Australian general practitioners' views on implementing telomere length screening in infants born after pregnancy complications. The research identified ethical concerns about consent and parental guilt, alongside practical barriers such as identifying eligible patients and time constraints. While GPs were generally supportive of embedding such screening into existing antenatal care, the study emphasizes that implementation faces challenges around knowledge gaps, ethics, and resources.
Key points
- GPs identified ethical barriers including obtaining consent on behalf of children and potential parental guilt from screening results
- Practical barriers included difficulty identifying eligible populations and maintaining communication between service providers
- GPs viewed telomere screening as a health promotion tool, which was a facilitator for uptake
- Integration with existing screening programs was identified as a key facilitator for implementation
- Study identified lack of knowledge, time and financial constraints as obstacles to implementation
Limitations
This study examines only healthcare provider perspectives through qualitative interviews with 12 GPs in one Australian region, and does not evaluate actual implementation or outcomes for children. The study cannot tell us about parental attitudes, effectiveness of telomere screening as a preventive tool, or how such screening would actually perform in practice.
Abstract
Background Pregnancy complications can impact the mother and child's health in the short and longterm resulting in an increased risk of chronic disease later in life. Telomere length is a biomarker of future cardiometabolic diseases and may offer a novel way of identifying offspring most at risk for future chronic diseases. Objective(s) To qualitatively explore General Practitioners' (GPs) perspectives on the feasibility and uptake for recommending a telomere screening test in children who were born after a pregnancy complication. Methods Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs within metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed for codes and themes. Results Two themes were generated: ethical considerations and practical considerations. Ethically, the GP participants discussed barriers including consenting on behalf of a child, parental guilt, and the impact of health insurance, whereas viewing it for health promotion was a facilitator. For practical considerations, barriers included the difficulty in identifying people eligible for screening, maintaining medical communication between service providers, and time and financial constraints, whereas linking screening for telomere length with existing screening would facilitate uptake. Conclusions GPs were generally supportive of potential telomere screening in infants, particularly via a saliva test that could be embedded in current antenatal care. However, several challenges, such as lack of knowledge, ethical considerations, and time and financial constraints, need to be overcome before such a test could be implemented into practice.