The effects of the informed consent given for cesarean section on anxiety and knowledge.

PURPOSE

To determine the effects of information given before cesarean section on women's anxiety levels and their knowledge about informed consent regarding it.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty women who elected to undergo cesarean section were included in the study. The data were collected using the pregnancy-related clinical information form, informed consent form, cesarean information form, and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test and Pearson correlation were used as statistical methods.

RESULTS

The women's knowledge scores before and after they were informed about cesarean section were 14.8 +/- 5.5 and 29.8 +/- 2.6, respectively (p < 0.05). Their state anxiety scores before and after they were informed about cesarean section were 28.4 +/- 6.6 and 28.0 +/- 5.9, respectively (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

It was determined that the participants' pre-training knowledge scores about cesarean section increased significantly after they were informed, and that their state and trait anxiety scores decreased very little after they were informed.