PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF FATIGUE DURING CHILDBIRTH.
Contributors: University of Maryland at Baltimore.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 272
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.
Description: The purpose of this descriptive longitudinal study was to examine the levels of fatigue that primiparous women experience during childbirth and its association with maternal factors. A convenient sample consisting of 100 primiparous women interviewed on admission to the labor and delivery unit of a large suburban hospital was obtained. These women were interviewed three times at two-hour intervals during labor unless they delivered before these time periods or were administered epidural anesthesia. The final interview was within twenty-four hours of delivery.

The subjective, cognitive and physiological dimensions of fatigue were measured by the Fatigue Symptom Checklist and Visual Analogue Scales, the Digit Span Subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test (revised R), and a hand held bulb dynamometer. A repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated that fatigue significantly increased as labor progressed. Fatigue was found to be high for these women as a group when they were admitted to the hospital and it continued to increase during labor.

A canonical correlation was computed to determine the best predictors for fatigue. The predictor set of variables included: (1) whether the woman took formal childbirth education classes; (2) the amount of sleep; (3) whether she exercised during the last trimester of pregnancy; (4) whether she worked during the last trimester of pregnancy; (5) her state and trait levels of anxiety; and (6) whether she had been medicated prior to the interview. On admission, the predictors with the greatest influence were, state anxiety, amount of sleep, trait anxiety, and medication. Two hours after admission, the predictors with the greatest influence were previous fatigue, medication and work. Four hours after admission, the variables were medication, previous fatigue, exercise and childbirth education. Six hours after admission, the predictors with the greatest influence were previous fatigue, medication, exercise and work. Within 24 hours after delivery, the greatest predictor of fatigue was previous fatigue.

There was a positive correlation between fatigue scores on admission and subsequent fatigue scores during labor. Women who had strong contractions reported significantly higher levels of fatigue at 2, 4 and 6 hours after admission. Women who used intense pattern of breathing exercises reported significantly higher levels of fatigue than those who used slow chest breathing. The total length of labor was significantly correlated with fatigue scores after delivery.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-01, Section: B, page: 0146.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AT BALTIMORE, 1990.

School code: 0373.