Effect of COVID-19 Self-care Training via Telemedicine on Perceived Stress and Corona Disease Anxiety in Pregnant Women: A Quasi-experimental Study

Background & aim: The coronavirus pandemic has increased stress and anxiety among pregnant women and established barriers to in-person care around the world. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of COVID-19 self-care training via telemedicine on perceived stress and corona disease anxiety in pregnant women. Methods: The present quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 pregnant women who referred to comprehensive health centers in Zahedan, Iran between June and September 2021. The sample was randomly assigned into two groups of 50 subjects. The intervention group received the educational content via WhatsApp Messenger in six sessions. Data collection tools were Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS). The selfadministered questionnaires were completed before the intervention and one month after the training program. Results: After the intervention, mean PSS score in the intervention group (25.34±6.63) was significantly reduced compared to the control group (28.42±5.75) (p=0.015). Also, mean CDAS score in the intervention group (13.14±7.29) had a significant decrease compared to the control group (20.54±6.67) (P<0.001). Conclusion: The results of our study confirmed the effectiveness of COVID-19 selfcare training via telemedicine in reducing the perceived stress and anxiety of pregnant women during the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, the use of this method in the care of pregnant women is recommended to mitigate stress and anxiety.

Association Between Awareness, Perceived Severity, and Behavioral Control of COVID -19 With Self-Care and Anxiety in Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study.

COVID-19 pandemic has caused a tidal wave of anxiety and stress among Iranians, especially pregnant women. This study aimed to assess the association between knowledge, perceived severity, and controllability of COVID-19 with self-care and health anxiety specially in pregnancy. This cross-sectional study was performed on 440 pregnant women. Data were collected using demographic-obstetrics characteristics, as well as the questionnaires of knowledge, perceived severity, and perceived controllability of the COVID-19, health anxiety, and self-care. Self-care was positively correlated with knowledge, perceived severity, and perceived controllability of the COVID-19. Nonetheless, health anxiety had a significant and inverse association with knowledge and perceived controllability, while there was a positive and significant correlation between perceived severity and health anxiety. Based on linear regression, three variables of knowledge, perceived severity, and perceived controllability of the COVID-19 could explain 46.3 and 17.5% of variations in self-care and health anxiety, respectively. It is suggested that due to the critical importance of prenatal care, managers, and health-care providers promote the use of such methods as telehealth and home-based caregivers, especially in areas with inadequate access to health care. So, the pregnant women can be followed up and receive medical care devoid of any stress and anxiety.

Association between perceived stress, fear and anxiety of COVID 19 with self-care in pregnant women: a cross-sectional study.

Pandemic COVID-19 has negative effects on the mental health of all people, especially pregnant women. This study aimed to determine the psychological effects of COVID-19 on self-care in pregnant women. The Cross-sectional study using the Multistage sampling technique was conducted among 215 pregnant women selected randomly from the Iranian Integrated Health System in 2020. Data were collected using demographic and obstetrics questionnaires, Pregnancy Self-Care Scale, Fear of COVID-19, COVID-19 Anxiety Scale(CDAS), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) by the self-report method. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 21 with Pearson correlation test and multivariable linear regression.The Mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) of Fear, anxiety, perceived stress, and self-care was 20.85(6.45), 18.20(10.45), 31.16 (7.65) and 40.84(4.11), respectively. The correlational analyses showed small positive significant associations between Fear (r=0.20; P=0.004) and anxiety of COVID-19 (r=0.14; P=0.03)with self-car but the association between perceived stress and self-care was small negative significant (r= -0.14; P=0.04). Based on regression analysis, 11% of the self-care changes could be explained by three independent variables (ß= 0.130, SE= 0.043, P=0.002). Based on the findings, pregnant women may benefit from psychoeducation that focuses on the effect of mental health problems on pregnant women.

Explaining the experience of prenatal care and investigating the association between psychological factors with self-care in pregnant women during COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed method study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel global public health emergency. Prenatal care (PNC) providing institutes should identify the needs and demands of pregnant women by optimizing the means of PNC services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aims to: a) explain prenatal care experiences; b) assess the factors affecting self-care, and c) present a prenatal care guideline and Strategies to improve the PNC. METHODS: This mixed-methods study with a sequential explanatory design consists of three phases. The first phase is a qualitative study exploring the prenatal care experiences among pregnant women. In this phase, the subjects will be selected through purposive sampling; moreover, in-depth individual interviewing will be used for data collection. Finally, the conventional content analysis approach will be employed for data analysis. The second phase is quantitative and will be used as a cross-sectional approach for assessing the association between psychological factors of self-care. In this regard, a multistage cluster sampling method will be used to select 215 subjects who will be visited in health care centers of Tabriz, Iran. The third phase will be focusing on developing a prenatal care guideline and Strategies, using the qualitative and quantitative results of the previous phases, a review of the related literature, and the nominal group technique will be performed among experts. DISCUSSION: The present research is the first study to investigate the prenatal care experiences and factors influencing self-care among pregnant women during COVID-19 pandemic. For the purposes of the study, a mixed-methods approach will be used which aims to develop strategies for improving health care services. It is hoped that the strategy proposed in the current study could lead to improvements in this regard. ETHICAL CODE: IR.TBZMED.REC.1399.003.