Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing最新文献

Purpose: This study investigated Korean healthcare providers' attitudes toward sexual and gender minority (SGM) persons and their knowledge and behavior concerning the collection of data on sexual orientation and gender identity (SO/GI).

Methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive study, 137 Korean healthcare providers were recruited through convenience sampling from internet communities for medical professionals. A structured questionnaire was created using Google Surveys. The Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman correlation analysis were performed.

Results: The sample was mostly women (80.3%) and nurses (83.9%), who overall negative attitudes toward SGM persons and low levels of knowledge and behavior with regard to the collection of patients' SO/GI data. Participants in their 20s, who were religious, and had clinical experiences in treating or providing nursing care for SGM persons had higher levels of knowledge about the collection of SO/GI data. The level of engagement in collecting SO/GI data was higher among women and in their 20s and 30s, unreligious participants, nurses, and those with less than 10 years of clinical experience. Positive attitudes toward SGM persons were associated with higher levels of knowledge, but lower levels of behavior, regarding the collection of SO/GI data.

Conclusion: It is important to recognize the diversity of patients' SO/GI and to collect the corresponding information. To this end, it is necessary to develop and use a standardized SO/GI form. Healthcare providers should also receive education and training related to the health of SGM persons to resolve health problems that disproportionately affect SGM persons and related health disparities.

Purpose: This study explored the prevalence of prenatal and postpartum depression in Korea and its influencing factors from 20 weeks of pregnancy to 12 weeks postpartum.

Methods: Using a prospective cohort study design, data on women's depression and its influencing factors were collected at 20, 28, and 36 weeks of pregnancy and at 2, 6, and 12 weeks postpartum. The participants were 219 women and 181 spouses during pregnancy; and 183 mothers and 130 spouses after childbirth. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and influencing factors were measured by the Postpartum Depression Predictors Inventory-Revised, parity, and spousal depression.

Results: The prevalence of maternal depression was 10.5% to 21.5% before birth, and it was 22.4% to 32.8% postpartum. The prevalence slightly decreased during the prenatal period but peaked at 2 weeks postpartum. Antenatal depression was influenced by low socioeconomic status, lower self-esteem, having experienced prenatal depression, having experienced prenatal anxiety, a previous history of depression, lower social support, lower marital satisfaction, and higher life stress. The factors influencing postpartum depression were lower self-esteem, having experienced prenatal depression, having experienced prenatal anxiety, lower social support, lower marital satisfaction, and higher life stress, as well as infant temperament and maternal blues. Parity and spousal depression had no impacts.

Conclusion: The prevalence and influencing factors of maternal depression changed over time. Nurses need to screen women accordingly during the perinatal period and should provide education or counseling to prevent depression and promote adjustment to parenthood.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of team-based learning (TBL) on nursing students' communication ability, problem-solving ability, self-directed learning, and nursing knowledge related to high-risk pregnancy nursing.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study used a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 91 nursing students allocated to an experimental group (n=45) and a control group (n=46). The experimental group received TBL lectures three times over the course of 3 weeks (100 minutes weekly) and the control group received instructor-centered lectures three times over the course of 3 weeks (100 minutes weekly). Data were collected by questionnaires from September 10 to November 8, 2019. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test, paired t-test, and independent t-test.

Results: After the intervention, the mean scores of problem-solving ability (t=-2.59, p=.011), self-directed learning (t=4.30, p<.001), and nursing knowledge (t=3.18, p=.002) were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group. No significant difference in communication ability was found between the experimental and control group (t=1.38, p=.171).

Conclusion: The TBL program was effective for improving nursing students' problem-solving ability, self-directed learning, and nursing knowledge. Thus, TBL can be considered an effective teaching and learning method that can improve the learning outcomes of high-risk pregnancy nursing in women's health nursing classes. The findings suggest that TBL will be helpful for future nursing students to develop the nursing expertise necessary for providing nursing care to high-risk pregnant women.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the association between breastfeeding and the prevalence of breast, thyroid, and cervical cancer among Korean adult women.

Methods: The study was a secondary analysis of data from the Korea Genome and Epidemiology Study. The final samples were 113,944 Korean women among 173,205 urban-based cohort participants collected between 2004 and 2013 for adults aged forty and over. To determine the association between female cancers and breastfeeding experience, the number of childbirth, and total breastfeeding duration, logistic regression analysis was done. The demographic characteristics, health behavior, and female history were adjusted.

Results: The prevalence of breast cancer was 1.37 times higher in the non-breastfeeding group than in the breastfeeding group. Compared to having breastfed for more than 36 months, the prevalence of thyroid cancer was 1.68 times higher at breastfeeding for 13 to 36 months, 1.67 times higher at breastfeeding for 6 to 12 months, and 2.06 times higher at breastfeeding less than 6 months. Also, the prevalence of cervical cancer was 1.54 times higher at breastfeeding for 13 to 36 months, compared to breastfeeding for more than 36 months.

Conclusion: This study found that breastfeeding experience and a longer breastfeeding duration are associated with reduced risk of breast, thyroid, and cervical cancer in Korean women. It can be used as a basis for encouraging breastfeeding, and suggests further research on modifiable factors that reduce cancer risks.

Purpose: Although insulin is usually injected into the abdominal subcutaneous fat, in pregnancy women tend to avoid abdominal injections due to concern about fetal damage. Prior studies have been limited to only measuring skin-subcutaneous fat thickness (S-ScFT) at one site at specific pregnancy points. This study aimed to measure S-ScFT across several abdominal sites and over the gestational period in Korean pregnant women. This can identify which site would be relatively safe for subcutaneous injection during pregnancy.

Methods: Healthy women over 24 weeks of pregnancy in Korea were invited to voluntarily participate in this descriptive study. For the 142 women, S-ScFT of 12 sites in the abdomen were measured by ultrasound, several times over the pregnancy. Each incidence was treated as a case and a total of 262 cases were analyzed.

Results: The mean S-ScFT during pregnancy was 1.14±0.47 cm (1.25±0.54 cm at 24⁺⁰-27⁺⁶ weeks; 1.17±0.48 cm at 28⁺⁰-31⁺⁶ weeks; 1.09⁺⁰.40 cm at 32⁺⁰-35⁺⁶ weeks; and 1.06±0.47 cm at 36⁺⁰-40 weeks of pregnancy). Most S-ScFT were thicker than 10 mm. But S-ScFTs in the lateral abdomen and some sites were suboptimal (<6 mm), especially in the pre-pregnancy underweight body mass index group, who had a high rate of suboptimal thickness (27.1% overall and 33.9% in the lateral side).

Conclusion: The whole abdomen seems to be appropriate for subcutaneous injection in most Korean women during pregnancy, with a 4 to 5-mm short needle. However, for the lateral abdomen, making the skin fold might be needed for fetal safety.

Purpose: Rectal prolapse is still a relatively understudied medical condition, especially in women, whereas physical symptoms, depressive symptoms, and quality of life (QOL) in women with pelvic organ prolapse have been steadily studied. This study aimed to examine the interaction and main effects of physical and depressive symptoms on physical and mental QOL of women seeking care for rectal prolapse in Korea.

Methods: Ninety-two women with rectal prolapse were recruited from a colorectal surgery clinic of a tertiary teaching hospital in Gwangju, Korea. Physical symptoms related to rectal prolapse (pelvic organ prolapse distress, POPD; colorectal-anal distress, CRAD; and urinary distress, UD), depression, and QOL were measured. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and two-way analysis of variance.

Results: The interaction between POPD symptoms and depressive symptoms (F=4.51, p=.037) affected physical QOL. The interaction between POPD (F=9.66, p=.003) and CRAD symptoms (F=7.48, p=.008), respectively, and depressive symptoms affected mental QOL. Depressive symptoms had a significant main effect on the physical QOL in the CRAD (F=6.22, p=.014) and UD (F=6.01, p=.016) groups and on mental QOL in the UD group (F=24.54, p<.001).

Conclusion: Physical and depressive symptoms should be considered together to improve the QOL in women with rectal prolapse. Nursing interventions and medical treatments to decrease rectal prolapse-related physical and depressive symptoms are required to improve QOL in women with symptomatic rectal prolapse.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and test the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Perinatal Infant Care Social Support (K-PICSS) for postpartum mothers.

Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design. The K-PICSS was developed through forward-backward translation. Online survey data were collected from 284 Korean mothers with infants 1-2 months of age. The 19-item K-PICSS consists of functional and structural domains. The functional domain of social support measures infant care practices of postpartum mothers. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and known-group comparison were used to verify the construct validity of the K-PICSS. Social support and postpartum depression were also measured to test criterion validity. Psychometric testing was not applicable to the structural social support domain.

Results: The average age of mothers was 32.76±3.34 years, and they had been married for 38.45±29.48 months. Construct validity was supported by the results of EFA, which confirmed a three-factor structure of the scale (informational support, supporting presence, and practical support). Significant correlations of the K-PICSS with social support (r=.71, p<.001) and depression (r=-.40, p<.001) were found. The K-PICSS showed reliable internal consistency, with Cronbach's α values of .90 overall and .82-.83 in the three subscales. The vast majority of respondents reported that their husband or their parents were their main sources of support for infant care.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the K-PICSS has satisfactory construct validity and reliability to measure infant care social support in Korea.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the actual state of childbirth in Korean women with natural childbirth and the degree of damage to the perineum during childbirth.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed the medical records of mothers who had natural childbirth at a hospital in Seoul, Korea in 2018. Data from 358 women with cephalic births at greater than 37 gestational weeks were analyzed. To determine natural childbirth characteristics and the degree of damage to the perineum, descriptive statistics were done. The difference in the degree of perineal injury according to obstetric characteristics was analyzed using independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance.

Results: The mean age was 33.18±3.68 years, and 49.2% were primiparas, while 39% gave birth with a doula. The degree of perineal damage differed by age (F=9.15, p<.001), parity (t=19.13, p<.001), number of births in multiparity (F=3.68, p=.027), previous vaginal delivery in multiparity (F=3.00, p=.032) and birthing posture (F=7.44, p<.001). Having received therapeutic procedures (t=-4.62, p<.001), specifically fluid administration (t=-2.72, p=.007), oxygen supply (t=--2.76, p=.006) and epidural anesthesia (t=-2.77, p=.006) were statistically significant for perineal damage. There were no differences, however, by gestational period, doula use, water room use in labor, baby head circumference, or birth weight.

Conclusion: Study findings suggest that support for older women, primiparas, and those who require therapeutic procedures may help to decrease the possibility of perineal damage during childbirth. As perineal damage was also associated with birthing posture, this should be considered when providing intrapartum nursing care.