Differences of Women's Perception of Fatigue According to the Period of Pregnancy

Jeong, Geum Hee; Kim, Shin Jeong

Abstract

A study was done to identify the differences of women's perception of fatigue according to the period of pregnancy. Questionnaires were collected from 510 normal pregnant women in 3 University Hospitals in Korea from April to November of 1999. The questionnaires used to measure pregnant women's fatigue were the "Subjective Symptoms of Fatigue Test" designed by the Research Committee of Industrial Fatigue in Hygienic Association of Japanese Industry. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS-Win. The results revealed that there was a significant difference according to the periods of pregnancy: The degree of fatigue was the highest in the first trimester and then third and second trimester in decreasing order (F=89.53, p=0.000). The degree of fatigue was also compared with the respect to the general characteristics of women: There were statistically significant differences according to number of pregnancy (t=6.41, p=0.000), expectation of pregnancy (t=-291, p=0.004) and weight change (F=8.07, p=0.000). Therefore, variable nursing intervention should be provided to alleviate the fatigue according to the each trimester of pregnant period. Especially the nursing intervention program to alleviate the physical fatigue in the first trimester is necessary.