Question

What conditions must be met for a disorder to be included in a newborn screening test? Select all that apply.

A. The disorder must have a clear heritable component.

B. The test for the disorder must minimize the risk of false positives.

C. The disorder must be well understood and effectively treatable.

D. The disorder must be fairly common in the population.

Answer 1

The conditions that must be met are :: b. The test for the disorder must minimize the risk of false positives as false positives may affect the children and their families. c. The disorder must be well understood and effectively treatable as otherwise the purpose of diagnosing it would be lost.

Though most disorders in the new born screening test have a heritable component it is not essential as certain other infectious, serious diseases such as HIV can also be diagnosed at early stages to provide support and treatment. The disorder need not be fairly common in the population as most of the disorders diagnosed are rare conditions.