Examination of the effects of distress on health practices in pregment women

Introduction and the aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of distress on health practices in pregnant women 12 weeks and older. Material and Method: The universe of this descriptive study consisted of pregnant women over 12 weeks who applied to a gynecology and obstetrics outpatient clinic of a City Hospital. In cases where the number of elements in the universe is unknown, the sample selection formula was used to calculate the minimum sample size to be included in the study and it was completed with 353 pregnant women. The data of the study were collected between November 2016 to April 2017 with questionnaire method which was prepared by the researcher using the Pregnant Information Form, the Tilburg Distress Scale in Pregnancy (TDSP) and Scale of Health Practices in Pregnancy (SHPP). In the evaluation of the data; Percentage distributions, averaging, t test, Kruskall Wallis variance analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, Correlation Analysis were used. Results: The average age of pregnant women is 26.19 ± 4.96, 65.4% of them are primary school graduates, 72.8% of them live in the district, 80.2% of them are planned for pregnancy, 87% of them have positive feelings about pregnancy. It was determined that the mean score of TDSP was 10.37 ± 4.91 and the mean total score of SHPP was 121.04 ± 10.32.There was a low-level negative correlation between age and Negative Affect and SHPP total score, and a low-level positive correlation between age and Spouse Participation score (p <0.05). As age increases, Negative Affectivity and SHPP total score decreases and Spouse Participation score increases. There was no significant relationship between age and the total score of TDSP (p> 0.05). There was a low level negative correlation between age of marriage and Spouse Participation, TDSP and SHPP total score (p <0.05). As the age of marriage increases, the total score of Spouse Participation, TDSP and SHPP decreases. There was no significant relationship between age of marriage and Negative Affect score (p> 0.05). There is a statistically significant, negative and low-level relationship between the total score of SHPP and the Co-Participation subscale and the total score of TDSP (p <0.05). Conclusion: It has been found that health practices of pregnant women are effective in reducing stress. Pregnant women who are under distress before, during and after birth should be identified and their distress should be eliminated by increasing the importance given to health practices during pregnancy. Keywords: Pregnancy, Health Practices, Distress