VIRTUAL COMMUNITY for PREGNANT WOMEN

Impact of A Peer Virtual Community on Pregnant Women's Well-being: A Quasi-experimental Study

The study aimed to investigate the effect of exclusive peer-to-peer virtual support on pregnant women's well-being including physical symptoms, depression, social support, maternal attachment, and pregnancy adaptation.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Normal Pregnancy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: virtual community

Detailed Description

The pregnancy period is marked by not only the joy and excitement of bonding with her baby but also dramatic changes in her body. The Internet's convenience and anonymity provide great possibilities for pregnant women to create a social network for sharing personal stories, seeking information and asking questions, and expressing own emotions and concerns.

Although health-related online communities are emerging rapidly around the globe, little is known about the impact of a virtual peer community on pregnant women's well-being.

The study enrolled 138 pregnant women, who were assigned to either the experimental or control groups. After obtaining informed consent from participants, we asked them to fill out the baseline questionnaires (Time 1). The first and second follow-ups (Times 2 and 3) were conducted at 22-24 and 36-38 weeks of pregnancy, respectively. Participants in the experimental group received ordinary prenatal care in addition to virtual community participation, and those in the control group received only ordinary prenatal care.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 138
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Pregnant women were older than 20 years old
2. Had at least 9 years of education.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Had complications in this pregnancy
2. Had underlying medical problems with pregnancy.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: control group; participants received ordinary prenatal care.
Experimental: virtual community group; participants were invited to join a virtual community to interact with peers in addition to their ordinary prenatal care.	Other: virtual community

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The pregnancy adaptation scale	Used to investigate the changes in the scores of pregnancy adaptation. Items are scored from 0 to 3 and they are summed to compute a total score ranging from 0 to 84. Higher scores indicate better pregnancy adaptation.	repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
The Edinburgh Depression Scale	Used to investigate the changes in the scores of depression. Items are scored from 0 to 3 and they are summed to compute a total score ranging from 0 to 30. The cut-off point for depression is a total score of 12 or above.	repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Symptoms Checklist	Used to investigate the changes in the scores of pregnancy-related physical symptoms. Items are scored from 1 to 4 and they are summed to compute a total score ranging from 22 to 88. Higher scores indicate experiencing more symptoms.	repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
The Social Support Scale	Used to investigate the changes in the scores of social support perception. Items are scored from 1 to 5 and they are summed to compute a total score ranging from 20 to 100. higher scores indicate perceived higher social support from family, peer pregnant women, friends, and healthcare providers.	repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).
The Maternal-Fetal Attachment Assessment Scale	Used to investigate the changes in the scores of maternal-fetal attachment. Items are scored from 1 to 5 and they are summed to compute a total score ranging from 39 to 195. Higher scores indicate higher maternal-fetal attachment.	repeated measured at second trimester (22-24 weeks of pregnancy), and the third trimester (36-38 weeks of pregnancy).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Tzu Chi University
• Collaborators: National Science Council, Taiwan

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Wu WR, Hung CH. Impact of a peer virtual community on pregnant women's well-being: A repeated-measure and quasi-experimental study. J Adv Nurs. 2019 May;75(5):1099-1107. doi: 10.1111/jan.13938. Epub 2019 Jan 24.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 31, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): January 31, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 21, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 30, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): October 2, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 4, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 2, 2018
• Last Verified: October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: TCU

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No