DOES COVID-19 PANDEMIA HAVE AN EFFECT ON PRENATAL DISTRESS AND RISK PERCEPTION IN PREGNANCY?

Year 2023, Volume: 4 Issue: 3, 225 - 239, 19.12.2023

Tülay Bülbül , Rabiye Erenoğlu , Mehmet Dolanbay

Abstract

Introduction: The study was conducted to determine the effects of COVID-19 on prenatal distress and risk perception in pregnancy.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted by using a web-based online questionnaire. A total of 202 pregnant women participated in the study. All volunteer pregnant women who came to the outpatient clinic between June and September 2020 were included in the study. The pregnant women admitting to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic of the Health Practice and Research Hospital due to routine follow-up were included in the study. In the data collection, firstly, the telephones of those who agreed to participate in the study were recorded. Then, a questionnaire link was sent to the telephones of these pregnant women over WhatsApp, and they were asked to fill in it. The Pregnant Information Form, Revised Prenatal Distress Questionnaire and Perception of Pregnancy Risk Questionnaire were used as the data collection tools. There were three parts in the link. The first part included Pregnant Information Form, the second part included NuPDQ and PPRQ to evaluate the pre-pandemia status, and the third part included NuPDQ and PPRQ to evaluate their status in the pandemia process. An explanatory text was added to the second part of the questionnaire link, which stated that they should respond by considering their pre-pandemia status. In the third part, another explanatory text was added
stating that they must respond according to the pandemia process they were in.
Results: The second measurement (during covid-19) values of Perception of Pregnancy Risk Questionnaire-Total and Sub-dimension scores and Concerns of the pregnant women about the healthcare quality and health status were statistically higher than the initial measurement (before covid-19) values. In the study, the distress level was found to increase as the perception risk increased in pregnancy. It was also determined that pregnant women who had living children felt more risk before and during the pandemia than those who had no children at all, and this risk perception score increased at significant levels during the pandemia.
Conclusion: The strategies aiming at maternal stress, such as providing effective communication and psychological assistance, can be particularly useful for women and their fetuses to avoid negative outcomes.

Keywords

Anxiety, COVID-19, Distress, Pregnancy, Risk Perception

COVID-19 PANDEMİSİNİN GEBELİKTE DOĞUM ÖNCESİ DİSTRES VE RİSK ALGISI ÜZERİNDE ETKİSİ VAR MI?

Abstract

Giriş: Çalışma, COVID-19'un gebelikte doğum öncesi distres ve risk algısı üzerindeki etkilerini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır.
Yöntem: Bu kesitsel çalışma web tabanlı çevrimiçi bir anket kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmaya toplam 202 gebe katılmıştır. Çalışmaya Haziran-Eylül 2020 tarihleri arasında Sağlık Uygulama ve Araştırma Hastanesi Kadın Hastalıkları ve Doğum Kliniğine rutin takip nedeniyle başvuran tüm gönüllü gebeler dahil edilmiştir. Verilerin toplanmasında öncelikle araştırmaya katılmayı kabul edenlerin telefonları kayıt altına alınmıştır. Daha sonra bu gebelerin telefonlarına WhatsApp üzerinden anket linki gönderilerek, bu linki doldurmaları istenmiştir. Veri toplama aracı olarak Gebe Bilgi Formu, Revize Edilmiş Prenatal Distres Ölçeği ve Gebelik Risk Algısı Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Veriler üç bölümde toplanmıştır. Birinci
bölümde Gebe Bilgi Formu, ikinci bölümde pandemi öncesi durumu değerlendirmek için NuPDQ ve PPRQ, üçüncü bölümde ise pandemi sürecindeki durumlarını değerlendirmek için NuPDQ ve PPRQ yer almıştır. Anket bağlantısının ikinci kısmına pandemi öncesi durumlarını dikkate alarak yanıt vermeleri gerektiğini belirten açıklayıcı bir metin eklenmiştir. Üçüncü bölümde ise içinde bulundukları pandemi sürecine göre tepki vermeleri gerektiğini belirten açıklayıcı bir metin eklenmiştir.
Bulgular: Gebelik Risk Algısı Ölçeği-Toplam ve Alt Boyut puanları ile gebelerin sağlık kalitesi ve sağlık durumu ile ilgili endişelerinin ikinci ölçüm (covid-19 sırasında) değerleri ilk ölçümden (covid-19 öncesi) istatistiksel olarak daha yüksek bulunmuştur. Araştırmada gebelikte risk algısı arttıkça distres düzeyinin arttığı tespit edilmiştir. Yaşayan çocuğu olan gebelerin, pandemi öncesi ve pandemi sırasında, hiç çocuğu olmayanlara göre daha fazla risk hissettikleri ve bu risk algılama puanının pandemi sırasında anlamlı düzeyde arttığı belirlenmiştir.
Sonuç: Etkili iletişim ve psikolojik yardım sağlanması gibi maternal stresi hedefleyen stratejiler, kadınlar ve fetüsleri için olumsuz sonuçları önlemek için özellikle yararlı olabilir.

Keywords

Anksiyete, Covid 19, Distres, Gebelik, Risk algısı

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