Summary of studies providing measures of paternal discrepancy stratified into disputed paternity tests and those undertaken for other reasons
| Country | Population* | Sample Size | PD estimate % (95% CIs)† | Method‡ | Bias§ | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * All populations in “other testing” are after birth. †CI, confidence intervals. 95%CIs were not included in most papers reporting levels of PD. Here, we have calculated all confidence intervals based on the sample size and percentage included in the table. However, this does not take into account sampling and other methodological variations between studies. 95%CIs have not been calculated for behaviour based estimates as these have been published as ranges. ‡ Blood and other markers methods usually rely on ABO and rhesus blood groupings or human leucocyte antigen differences. In studies using these methodologies calculations of PD prevalence often include a corrective factor to account for discrepancies that remain undetected. With DNA tests polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism are commonly used and PD detection rates are usually sensitive enough to require little or no correction. § Bias is identified as (+) = likely to overestimate PD and (−) = likely to underestimate PD. All disputed paternity testing is likely to recruit individuals who already suspect PD and results exaggerate population levels. Genetic screening for health reasons is likely to be avoided by those concerned that PD will be exposed and consequently may underestimate PD. Not known is entered next to studies where direction of any bias is unclear. ¶ Behaviour based estimates rely on questionnaires rather than biomolecular markers to estimate PD. | ||||||
| Disputed paternity testing | ||||||
| USA | After birth | 200 | 29.0 (22.7 to 35.3) | Blood and other markers | Marsters, 195762 | |
| Sweden | After birth | 3913 | 26.1 (24.7 to 27.5) | Blood and other markers | Valentin, 198063 | |
| USA | After birth | 2500 | 25.5 (23.8 to 27.2) | Blood and other markers | Houtz et al, 198264 | |
| USA | After birth | 1393 | 25.8 (23.5 to 28.1) | Blood and other markers | Mickey et al, 198665 | |
| Finland | After birth | 26 | 34.6 (15.0 to 54.2) | DNA testing | Helminen et al, 198866 | |
| South Africa | After birth | 2124 | 38.2 (36.1 to 40.3) | Blood and other markers | Du Toit et al, 198932 | |
| Mostly UK | After birth | 1702 | 16.6 (14.9 to 18.4) | DNA testing | Jeffreys et al, 199167 | |
| Finland | After birth | 35 | 15.2 (2.1 to 26.5) | DNA testing | suspected non-paternity (+) | Helminen et al, 199268 |
| Germany | After birth | 256 | 16.8 (12.2 to 21.4) | DNA testing | Krawczak et al, 199369 | |
| USA | Prenatal | 37 | 53.0 (37.2 to 70.9) | DNA testing | Strom et al, 199670 | |
| USA | After birth | 753 | 37.0 (33.6 to 40.5) | DNA testing | Strom et al, 199670 | |
| Russia | After birth | 21 | 14.0 (0 to 30.6) | DNA testing | Molyaka et al, 199771 | |
| UK | After birth | 16122 | 13.0 (12.5 to 13.5) | DNA testing | Boardman F, 199872 | |
| Portugal | After birth | 83 | 27.7 (17.9 to 37.5) | DNA testing | Geada et al, 200073 | |
| Portugal | After birth | 790 | 29.8 (26.6 to 32.9) | DNA testing | Geada et al, 200073 | |
| USA and European | After birth | 310490 | 29.1 (28.9 to 29.3) | Mixed methods | American Association of Blood Banks, 200248 | |
| Other testing | ||||||
| UK | Southern English families | 2578 | 3.7 (3.0 to 4.4) | Blood and other markers | not known | Edwards, 195774 |
| USA | Undisputed paternity tests | 67 | 18.0 (8.5 to 27.3) | Blood and other markers | not known | Sussman and Schatkin, 195775 |
| USA | Michigan white sample | 1417 | 1.4 (0.8 to 2.0) | Blood and other markers | not known | Schacht and Gershowitz, 196376 |
| USA | Michigan black sample | 523 | 10.1 (7.5 to 12.7) | Blood and other markers | not known | Schacht and Gershowitz, 196376 |
| USA | Californian white sample | 6960 | 2.7 (2.3 to 3.1) | Blood and other markers | not known | Peritz and Rust, 197277 |
| UK | Southern English families | 200 | 30.0 (23.6 to 36.4) | Blood and other markers | poor test sensitivity (−) | Philipp, 197378 |
| South America | Yanomama tribe | 132 | 9.0 (4.1 to 14.1) | Blood and other markers | not known | Neel and Weiss, 197579 |
| USA | Hawaiian families | 2839 | 2.3 (1.7 to 2.8) | Blood and other markers | non-participation in sample (−) | Ashton, 198080 |
| France | Screening and paternity tests | 300 | 7.0 (4.1 to 9.9) | Blood and other markers | some suspected non-paternity (+) | Salmon et al, 198081 |
| New Zealand | Tokelau families | 1983 | 4.0 (3.1 to 4.9) | Blood and other markers | not known | Lathrop et al, 198382 |
| Mexico | Families with new borns | 217 | 2.9 (0.6 to 5.0) | Blood and other markers | not known | Peñaloza, 198683 |
| UK | Cystic fibrosis screening | 521 | 1.4 (0.4 to 2.3) | DNA testing | non-participation in sample (−) | Brock and Shrimpton, 199115 |
| France | Genetic screening (various) | 362 | 2.8 (1.1 to 4.5) | DNA testing | non-participation in sample (−) | Le Roux et al, 199284 |
| Canada | Haemophilia B screening | 25 | 4.0 (0 to 12.3) | DNA testing | non-participation in sample (−) | Poon et al, 199385 |
| Switzerland | Cystic fibrosis/bone marrow screening | 1607 | 0.8 (0.4 to 1.3) | Mixed methods | non-participation in sample (−) | Sasse et al, 199486 |
| Mexico | Nuevo Leon new borns | 396 | 11.8 (8.7 to 15.1) | Blood and other markers | not known | Cerda-Flores et al, 199914 |
| UK | Multiple sclerosis screening | 744 | 1.6 (0.7 to 2.5) | DNA testing | non-participation in sample (−) | Chataway et al, 199987 |
| Behavioural estimates¶ | ||||||
| UK | Magazine readers | 2708 | 6.9 to 13.8 | Behaviour based estimate | sample composition (+) | Bellis and Baker 199088 |
| USA | College undergraduates | 285 | 13.0 to 20.0 | Behaviour based estimate | not known | Gaulin et al, 199789 |