Clinical trial NCT03692923: VIRTUAL COMMUNITY for PREGNANT WOMEN
Official title: Impact of A Peer Virtual Community on Pregnant Women's Well-being: A Quasi-experimental Study
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Normal Pregnancy
Lead sponsor: Tzu Chi University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan
First posted: 2018-10-02
Enrollment: 138
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 20
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The study aimed to investigate the effect of exclusive peer-to-peer virtual support on pregnant women's well-being including physical symptoms, depression, social support, maternal attachment, and pregnancy adaptation.

Detailed description: The pregnancy period is marked by not only the joy and excitement of bonding with her baby but also dramatic changes in her body. The Internet's convenience and anonymity provide great possibilities for pregnant women to create a social network for sharing personal stories, seeking information and asking questions, and expressing own emotions and concerns.

Although health-related online communities are emerging rapidly around the globe, little is known about the impact of a virtual peer community on pregnant women's well-being.

The study enrolled 138 pregnant women, who were assigned to either the experimental or control groups. After obtaining informed consent from participants, we asked them to fill out the baseline questionnaires (Time 1). The first and second follow-ups (Times 2 and 3) were conducted at 22-24 and 36-38 weeks of pregnancy, respectively. Participants in the experimental group received ordinary prenatal care in addition to virtual community participation, and those in the control group received only ordinary prenatal care.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Pregnant women were older than 20 years old
2. Had at least 9 years of education.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Had complications in this pregnancy
2. Had underlying medical problems with pregnancy.

Primary outcomes:
measure: The pregnancy adaptation scale
timeFrame: repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
measure: The Edinburgh Depression Scale
timeFrame: repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
Secondary outcomes:
measure: The Symptoms Checklist
timeFrame: repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
measure: The Social Support Scale
timeFrame: repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
measure: The Maternal-Fetal Attachment Assessment Scale
timeFrame: repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
References:
citation: Wu WR, Hung CH. Impact of a peer virtual community on pregnant women's well-being: A repeated-measure and quasi-experimental study. J Adv Nurs. 2019 May;75(5):1099-1107. doi: 10.1111/jan.13938. Epub 2019 Jan 24.