Abstract: Objective Understand the level of cognition and acceptance of noninvasive prenatal genetic testing （NIPT） for fetal chromosomal abnormalities among urban pregnant women.Methods A simple random sampling method was used to conduct a questionnaire survey on the pregnant women who were admitted to the obstetrics clinic of a hospital in Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province. Contents of the questionnaire included the basic information of the subjects, their cognition and acceptance level of NIPT related knowledge. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test or multivariate logistic regression model.Results A total of 1 156 pregnant women aged 20-45 years were investigated in this study. And 78.98% of them were the Han nationality and 52.51% had the educational level at high school/secondary school. Of the participants, the gestational age was mainly from 12 to 27 weeks, accounting for 51.04%; 39.01% had one pregnancy, 39.97% had 2 to 5 times of pregnancies; 51.04% had no parity and 30.36% had 1 parity. Among all the respondents, 42.04% （486 cases） had high cognitive level of NIPT and 48.01% were willing to accept or have accepted NIPT screening. About the NIPT related knowledge, the awareness rates of NIPT, NIPT method, NIPT and invasive diagnosis were 60.73%, 60.03%, and 58.04%, respectively. The awareness rate of screening at 12 weeks of gestation and factors affecting NIPT results were 30.02% and 19.98%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the pregnant women with older age （OR=1.303）, higher educational level（OR=1.191）, history of adverse pregnancy or delivery （OR=1.171）, higher monthly household income （OR=1.394） and NIPT cognitive level were more likely to accept or have chosen NIPT.Conclusion The cognitive level of NIPT technology for urban pregnant women was not ideal and the acceptance of NIPT was not high. Age, history of adverse pregnancy or childbirth, cognitive level, educational level and family income level were the main factors influencing pregnant women to choose NIPT.

Key words: Fetal chromosomal abnormalities, Noninvasive prenatal genetic testing, Pregnant women, Cognitive level, Acceptance level