Wiafe Yaw Amo, Whitehead Bill, Venables Heather, Dassah Edward T
College of Health and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, UK.
Department of Medical Diagnostics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Derby, Ghana.
J Ultrasound. 2020 Mar;23(1):55-59. doi: 10.1007/s40477-019-00382-5. Epub 2019 May 8.
Intrapartum ultrasound is gaining high acceptance by many women as another method for assessing labour progression. Despite growing evidence of the effectiveness of ultrasound in labour, the acceptance of intrapartum ultrasound has not been previously investigated in black Africans.
This study aimed to determine women's acceptance of intrapartum ultrasound and their preference for transperineal ultrasound or digital vaginal examination (digital VE) in Ghana.
An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers who had had both digital VE and transperineal ultrasound during labour in a tertiary hospital. Information about their sociodemographic characteristics, experience with, and preference for ultrasound or digital VE in labour using a pretested structured questionnaire was obtained. Their experiences were categorised as 'tolerable, 'quite uncomfortable' or 'very uncomfortable'. Categorical variables were compared using Fisher's exact test. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Altogether, 196 women were recruited into the study. The mean age of the women was 26.7 years (standard deviation, 4.6 years). Nearly half (47%) of the women had never delivered before. Significantly more women considered transperineal ultrasound to be more tolerable than digital VE (66% vs. 40%; p < 0.001). Almost all the women (97.5%) described their experience with transperineal ultrasound to be better than digital VE, and would choose transperineal ultrasound over digital VE in the future (98.5% vs. 1.5%; p < 0.001).
The findings of this study are comparable to those of other related studies reported recently. This research confirms high acceptance of ultrasound in labour by mothers from different countries and across continents, implying that cultural differences do not influence women's responses to and interest in intrapartum ultrasound.
Most women found ultrasound in labour to be more tolerable than digital VE. Whenever possible, transperineal ultrasound should be provided as an alternative to digital VE during labour.
产时超声作为评估产程进展的另一种方法，正越来越受到众多女性的高度认可。尽管有越来越多的证据表明超声在产程中具有有效性，但此前尚未对非洲黑人女性对产时超声的接受情况进行过调查。
本研究旨在确定加纳女性对产时超声的接受情况以及她们对经会阴超声或指诊（数字式阴道检查）的偏好。
在一家三级医院对分娩时接受过指诊和经会阴超声检查的母亲进行了一项分析性横断面研究。通过一份预先测试的结构化问卷，获取了她们的社会人口学特征、在产程中对超声或指诊的体验及偏好等信息。她们的体验被分为“可耐受”“相当不舒服”或“非常不舒服”。使用Fisher精确检验对分类变量进行比较。p值<0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
总共196名女性被纳入该研究。这些女性的平均年龄为26.7岁（标准差4.6岁）。近一半（47%）的女性此前从未分娩过。显著更多的女性认为经会阴超声比指诊更可耐受（66%对40%；p<0.001）。几乎所有女性（97.5%）表示她们经会阴超声的体验比指诊更好，并且未来会选择经会阴超声而非指诊（98.5%对1.5%；p<0.001）。
本研究的结果与近期报道的其他相关研究结果相当。这项研究证实了来自不同国家和各大洲的母亲对产时超声的高度接受，这意味着文化差异不会影响女性对产时超声的反应和兴趣。
大多数女性发现产程中的超声比指诊更可耐受。在产程中，只要有可能，应提供经会阴超声作为指诊的替代方法。
