Letters
Ethnic differences in outcome of serum screening for Down's syndrome
BMJ 1996; 312 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7037.1040b (Published 20 April 1996) Cite this as: BMJ 1996;312:1040
Differences in median values may account for differences in false positive rates
- Clare Ford,
- Alison Moore,
- William A Bartlett,
- Alan F Jones
- Senior biochemist Senior biochemist Principal biochemist Consultant chemical pathologist Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham B9 5SS
EDITOR,—Lucy Gilbert and colleagues report that serum screening for Down's syndrome had a higher false positive rate in women of Indian Asian origin than in white women.1 They speculate that racial differences in the median concentrations of the biochemical markers used may explain this finding. Evidence from our laboratory indicates that this is at least part of the reason.
Samples from Indian Asian ethnic groups account for 25-30% of those …
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