Celina Łepecka-Klusek

Difficulties in adaptation to pregnancy following natural conception or use of assisted reproduction techniques: a comparative study.

Background To evaluate the influence assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs) may have on womens adaptation to resulting pregnancies. Methods Retrospective assessment of how women adapt to their pregnancies following ART. A questionnaire was used that ranked their attitudes according to the 5-grade Likert scale. The study included 250 women who gave birth to their first child. Of these pregnancies, 125 had been obtained by means of ART; the remaining 125 were naturally conceived. Results Difficulties in adaptation to pregnancy were significantly more frequent in women whose pregnancies resulted from the use of ARTs than in those who had conceived naturally (p = 0.000005). The subjects in the first group were significantly older (p = 0.04), more affluent (p = 0.000005) and had more frequently interrupted their professional work than women in the latter group. The two groups did not differ with regard to frequency of hospitalisations. Conclusions ART significantly increases difficulties in adaptation to resulting pregnancies. The main factors responsible for these difficulties are age, socio-economic conditions and interruption of professional activity.

Psychosocial problems of women with stress urinary incontinence

OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was evaluation of the influence of stress urinary incontinence on womens quality of life. MATERIAL AND METHOD The study covered 275 women between 30-65 years of age. The study was conducted using the following tools: Gaudenz Questionnaire, Kings Health Questionnaire (KHQ), Female Sexual Function Index (FIFI) Questionnaire, and a questionnaire devised by the authors of the study. RESULTS The study shows that the disease has a negative effect on evaluation of the quality of thee womens lives. The symptoms of stress urinary incontinence had a significant influence on the feeling of emotional comfort, social and professional activity of the surveyed women - respectively p= 0.000; p=0.000; p=0.000. Nearly every third woman (28.7%) felt great mental discomfort related to the disease symptoms, 31.7% a considerable discomfort, 33.1% a moderate, and very few women (6.5 %) claimed that the disease had a minimal effect on their emotional state. About two-thirds of the surveyed women (68.7%) were sexually active, and the remaining 31.3% declared the lack of sexual intercourse. CONCLUSIONS The occurrence of stress urinary incontinence symptoms affects the quality of life of women, especially their mental state and interpersonal contacts. Most women with the symptoms of stress urinary incontinence fulfill their sexual needs; however, many of them do not feel complete satisfaction with their sex life.

The socio-economic conditioning of difficulties in adaptation to pregnancy following assisted reproductive techniques.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to analyse the demographic, social and economic conditioning of the adaptation process in women who became pregnant following assisted reproductive techniques. STUDY DESIGN The analysis was performed with the use of a questionnaire, which was designed to evaluate, among other factors, the attitudes of women towards their pregnancies. The study group included 250 primiparae in whom pregnancy had resulted either from artificial insemination by their husband or a donor or from in vitro fertilisation. RESULTS Two subgroups were identified. The first consisted of women who were well adapted to pregnancy (n=90, 36%), while the second included those subjects who experienced difficulties in adapting (n=160, 64%). The adaptation of women to pregnancy was significantly different (p<0.05) with regard to age, education and environment, as well as housing and material conditions, and, moreover, with regard to the duration of infertility treatment and the costs incurred. The type of assisted reproductive technique that could have initiated the pregnancy also turned out to be vital. Whether the women were in permanent employment was not significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS More difficulties in adapting to pregnancy as a result of assisted reproductive techniques were reported by younger women (up to 30 years of age), by those inhabiting a rural environment and by those who had had a better education or who were living in better socio-economic conditions. Moreover, those subjects who benefited from more expensive and more complicated procedures, and thus incurred higher treatment costs, also experienced substantial difficulties.

Conditions of Attending Prophylactic Gynecological Examinations by Women

Abstract Introduction. Low percentage of women who attend prophylactic examinations and also react early to the first symptoms of a disease is a common problem. Aim. The aim of the study was to determine demographic and environmental characteristics which had positive effects on having prophylactic gynecological examinations by women as well as to investigate what significance womens practicing of hormonal contraception had in that question. Material and methods. The study covered 430 women. The conditions of including women into the study group were as follows: age <45 years, commencement of sexual intercourses, maintaining of sexual activity, consent to participate in the study. The method of the study was a diagnostics survey using the questionnaire. Results. The majority of the surveyed women said that they attended prophylactic gynecological examinations regularly. Having prophylactic gynecological examinations was significantly affected (p<0.05) by mean monthly income per capita in the family, practicing and the type of contraception. The joint effect of the surveyed characteristics proved to be significant (p<0.05). Conclusions. The model woman who willingly attends prophylactic gynecological examinations is a young person who lives in a big city, has a university education and a very good financial position confirmed by high family income per capita. Practicing of hormonal contraception by women is a factor that has a beneficial effect on womens care of their health understood as having regular prophylactic gynecological examinations.

Evaluation of the health behaviors of women in multiple pregnancies — a preliminary study

OBJECTIVES The aim of the paper was to assess which health behavior indicators were characteristic for women with a multiple pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHOD The study involved 35 women in multiple pregnancies. The inclusion criteria were: the completion of the 22nd week of pregnancy (22 Hbd, i.e., 22 weeks and 1/7) and the consent of the women to participate in the study. We used an original questionnaire devised by us specifically for our study, as well as a standardized research tool, Juczyńskis Health Behavior Inventory questionnaire, for the assessment of the pregnant womens health behaviors. RESULTS The overall rate of health behaviors was high and was on average 93.9 ± 10.8 points (7 sten scores). Indicators of the health behaviors of women in multiple pregnancies were high across all categories. However, the highest rate was observed in preventive behaviors. CONCLUSIONS The overall rate of health behaviors of women with a multiple pregnancy and all the individual behavior category indicators were high. However, the highest rate was for preventive behaviors. The indicator values of the health behaviors of the pregnant women in the study were not dependent on the variables adopted in this paper.

Satysfakcja seksualna kobiet po porodzie — część II

Wstep/Cel. Celem pracy bylo sprawdzenie wplywu niektorych czynnikow na satysfakcje seksualną kobiet po urodzeniu dziecka. Material i metody. Badania przeprowadzono wśrod 360 kobiet bedących 3–6 miesiecy po porodzie. W badaniach wykorzystano specjalnie do tego celu skonstruowany kwestionariusz skladający sie z cześci autorskiej oraz standaryzowanego kwestionariusza Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire Female. Opracowania statystycznego dokonano za pomocą oprogramowania komputerowego IBM SPSS Statistics wersja 21. Do analizy statystycznej zastosowano test U Manna-Whitneya. Wyniki. Ankietowane kobiety byly w wieku 18–43 lat. Dla ponad polowy badanych (226; 62,77%) byl to pierwszy porod, a dla pozostalych (134; 37,23%) drugi lub kolejny. Ciąza zakonczyla sie porodem drogami natury u 242 (67,22%) badanych kobiet, a u 118 (32,78%) poprzez ciecie cesarskie. Pierworodki cieszyly sie lepszą jakością zycia seksualnego w porownaniu z wielorodkami (p = 0,001). Najwyzszą satysfakcje seksualną deklarowaly kobiety po porodzie naturalnym bez naciecia krocza (Me = 92,00). Stwierdzono istotne statystycznie roznice (p = 0,012) na poziomie satysfakcji seksualnej pomiedzy grupą badanych kobiet bez objawow i z objawami nietrzymania moczu. Wnioski. Subiektywna ocena satysfakcji seksualnej kobiet po porodzie zalezy od liczby porodow, sposobu ukonczenia ciązy oraz wystepowania objawow wysilkowego nietrzymania moczu.

Quality of life and sexual activity of women suffering from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Abstract Aim. The aim of this study was to search for a correlation between the quality of life and the sexuality of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Material and methods. The research was made with the use of the WHOQOL)-BREF questionnaire and the FSQ-28 scale. It included 72 women diagnosed with the (PCOS). Results. A better quality of life in the areas of psychology, social and background relations turned out to be to a moderate degree connected with the reactivity increase on the particular sexual reaction stages, excluding the sexual arousal domain. “Pain” and “relations with a partner” domains had a negative correlation with the given domains of the quality of life. The statistically significant correlation p<0.05 was observed between the overall quality of life and the following domains of the sexual response cycle: desire, lubrication, arousal, orgasm, foreplay and the relations with a partner. Conclusions. 1. All domains of the quality of life of women with PCOS are significantly connected with the majority of domains of the sexual response cycle. 2. The domains of the sexual response cycle are significantly differentiated by the sense of the quality of life. The perception of health in that respect is irrelevant.

Zakażenia wirusem C zapalenia wątroby jako problem w opiece perinatalnej

Wirusowe zapalenie wątroby typu C jest waznym problemem epidemiologicznym. Wedlug danych opracowanych przez Światową Organizacje Zdrowia zakazonych jest okolo 3% światowej populacji. W Polsce, na podstawie badan przeprowadzonych w 2010 roku, wystepowanie przeciwcial anty-HCV w populacji wynosi 1,9%. Wykrywalnośc zakazenia jest wciąz niewielka. Świadczy o tym fakt, ze az 95% osob zakazonych HCV nie jest świadoma swojej choroby. W 2012 roku rozpoczeto realizacje projektu „Zapobieganie zakazeniom HCV”. Jest to program wspolfinansowany w ramach Szwajcarsko-Polskiego Programu Wspolpracy (SPPW). Cześcią tego projektu jest rowniez Pilotazowy Program badania kobiet w ciązy w kierunku zakazen HCV. Zakazenie wirusem u matki daje realne zagrozenie dla jej dziecka zarowno wewnątrzmacicznie, jak i w okresie porodu. Przekazanie przez matke wirusa HCV skutkuje pojawieniem sie przewleklego zapalenia wątroby typu C u noworodka, co w poźniejszym czasie daje szybki rozwoj choroby. Wrodzona postac zakazenia stwarza ryzyko pojawienia sie wloknienia wątroby juz we wczesnej mlodości. Wirus HCV po wieloletniej inkubacji moze prowadzic do marskości i nowotworu zlośliwego wątroby. Celem niniejszej pracy byl przegląd piśmiennictwa na temat zdarzających sie problemow w opiece polozniczej, świadczonej kobietom zakazonym wirusem HCV. Problemy Pielegniarstwa 2015; 23 (1): 123–127

PRZEMOC WOBEC DZIECKA

The problem of the violence against children is noticed by more and more people. The number of people, who object to any corporal punishment is also increasing. However, many adults still accept the use of corporal punishment in the process of education and they are not aware of the existing legal prohibition. It was the aim of this work to present the problem of violence against children and the participation of the midwife/nurse in the prophylaxis and the detection of abused children. The terms of violence, family/domestic violence and violence against children were defined in the paper. Following forms of the violence: physical, mental and sexual as well as the neglect were characterized. In the article, the dimension of the phenomenon in Poland was discussed. It was difficult to real assess it, because of the place of the violence. Very often, in fact, it happens among family, without any witnesses. Author described the role of nurses/midwifes in the identification of the harmed children. It was concluded, that the violence against the children cannot be unnoticed. There is a need to develop new and effective preventive programmes as well as to update and improve the nurses’ knowledge, especially in terms of changing law. Nursing Topics 2015; 23 (2): 246–250