A Study on Pregnant Women's Fatigue

임신중 피로에 관한 조사연구

A survey was conducted to examine the fatigue and the related factors in pregnancy. 426 pregnant women were recruited from antenatal clinic at 8 hospital from November 1, 1997 to January 1, 1998. Fatigue was measured by the Modification of the Fatigue Symptoms Checklist(MFSC) developed by the Industrial Fatigue Research Committee of the Japanese Association of Industrial health(Yoshitake, 1978). The MFSC consisted of 34 items with 4-point Likert scale. Minor discomfort during pregnancy was measured using a 14-item checklist with 4-point Likert scale. The data were analyzed by percentage, t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation. The major findings of study were as follows : 1. The average fatigue score during pregnacy was 63.02 and the average minor discomfort score was 26.92. 2. The fatigue score of nullipara was significantly lower than that of mutipara. There was a significant difference of fatigue score between pregnant women with conjugal family and those with extended family. The fatigue score during 1st trimester was the highest in comparison with that of 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy. 3. The fatigue score of pregnant women who worked for house-keeping only was significantly lower than that of pregnant women who worked partially or did not work for house-keeping. 4. There were significant correlations among each type of measure of fatigue and discomfort. Fatigue was the most common symptom during pregnancy and related to type of family, house-keeping work, and parity. Nursing intervention such as self-car, relaxation, and nutrition would be developed to manage fatigue problem in pregnancy.