FACTORS MODULATING DISTRESS AND PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH ABORTION.
Contributors: Boston University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 254
Subjects: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.; Psychology, Physiological.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an educational intervention, sensory information, on distress and pain sensation during first trimester abortion. The research hypotheses, derived from Leventhal's perceptual-motor theory of emotion, were: (1) Women who receive sensory information will experience less distress than women who do not; and (2) There will be no difference in pain sensation between women who do and do not receive sensory information. Dependent measures of distress included self-report, as measured by visual analogue scale (VAS), experimenter-rated observation on the Distress Checklist, and change in heart rate. Pain sensation was measured on a VAS. Additional data were obtained on preference for information (K-I of the Krantz Health Opinion Survey) and state anxiety (STAI).

A 2 x 2 factorial design was used. The experimental factor was specificity of information provided preabortion (sensory vs. general). Type of anesthesia received (local vs. IV sedation) was included as a second, control, factor. All postintervention data were collected by a research assistant who was blind to the intervention received.

Eighty-four women were randomly assigned to treatment condition by type of anesthesia. All subjects received an audiotaped message (sensory or general information) prior to the procedure. No significant main effects were found for treatment on behavioral or subjective distress. A significant effect for type of anesthesia was found for subjective distress (p =.04), with women receiving IV sedation reporting less distress than those receiving local anesthesia. No effect on preabortion heart rate, controlling for baseline heart rate, was found. No effect for treatment was found for pain sensation. Again, IV sedation produced lower reported pain sensation than local anesthesia (p =.003). Additional analyses revealed state anxiety decreased significantly from pre- to postabortion (p =.001), but was not affected by treatment or anesthesia.

These findings suggest sensory information is not effective in reducing distress or intensity of pain during first trimester abortion. Further research is indicated to provide a more detailed description of the abortion experience prior to testing interventions to mitigate distress and pain.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: B, page: 3096.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0017.