Abstract:

Aim: In recent years, with the rapid development of technology, prenatal diagnosis methods are frequently used in the diagnosis of congenital diseases and anomalies in fetus and in determining risk factors. It is stated that invasive procedures such as amniocentesis and cordocentesis applied in prenatal period cause fear and anxiety in pregnant women. This study was conducted to determine the level of anxiety and the effectıve factors in pregnant women before amniocentesis and cordocentesis. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in descriptive and cross-sectional type. The sample of the study consisted of 184 pregnant women who will undergo amniocentesis and cordocentesis. To collect the data, a questionnaire prepared by the researcher and “State Anxiety Scale” were used. Data were collected between May 1 and July 1, 2015 by face-to-face interviews with pregnant women who applied to the perinatology outpatient clinic of a medical school hospital for amniocentesis and cordocentesis. In the analysis, number, percentile, mean and standard deviation were used, and the Mann Whitney U test and the Kruskal Wallis analysis of variance were performed for non-parametric data. Results: The mean age of the pregnant women was 30.26 ± 6.52, 86.4% of them applied to the clinic for amniocentesis, 13.6% of them applied to the clinic for cordocentesis, 67.9% were in the second trimester of pregnancy and 32.1% were in the third trimester. It was determined that 26.6% of the pregnant women were treated with pathological ultrasonography findings, 21.7% with advanced maternal age, 19.6% with high risk in triple test and 19.0% with invasive procedure due to anomaly baby history. The State Anxiety Score mean of the pregnant women was found to be 38.80 ± 5.85, and 34.8% had mild/moderate anxiety. The difference between the educational status of the pregnant women and their state anxiety scores was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between some socio demographic characteristics, obstetric and procedural characteristics and state anxiety scores (p>0.05). Conclusion: Pregnant women had mild/moderate anxiety before amniocentesis and cordocentesis procedures. Since the anxiety experienced before invasive procedures such as amniocentesis and cordocentesis can threaten the health of pregnant and fetus, health professionals should evaluate anxiety status of pregnant women in prenatal diagnosis process, determine risk factors that may affect anxiety and take initiatives to reduce anxiety level.

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