School of Nursing, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230012, China.
Pharmacy Department, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, 234099, China.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2024 Apr 12;24(1):269. doi: 10.1186/s12884-024-06419-w.
Empathy is a critical component of nursing care, impacting both nurses' and patients' outcomes. However, perceived empathy from spouses during pregnancy and its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are unclear. This study aimed to examine pregnant women's perceived empathy from their spouses and assess the relation of perceived empathy on HRQoL.
This cross-sectional study, performed in the obstetric clinics or wards of four well-known hospitals in Anhui Province, China, included 349 pregnant women in the second or third trimester; participants were recruited by convenience sampling and enrolled from October to December 2021. A general information questionnaire, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a purpose-designed empathy questionnaire and the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) were used to evaluate the pregnant women's general information, perceptions of empathy and HRQoL. Data were analysed using SPSS 22 at a threshold of P < 0.05. Descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, Student's t test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis were used for analysis.
The pregnant women's total empathy, physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores were 41.6 ± 9.0, 41.6 ± 7.6, and 47.7 ± 9.1, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed that the purpose-designed empathy questionnaire items were significantly positively correlated with perspective taking and empathic concern but were not correlated with the personal distress dimension and were only partially correlated with the fantasy dimension. Maternal physical condition during pregnancy, planned pregnancy, and occupational stress were predictors of the PCS score (β = 0.281, P < 0.01; β = 0.132, P = 0.02; β = -0.128, P = 0.02). The behavioural empathy item of our purpose-designed empathy questionnaire and empathic concern were important predictors of the MCS score (β = 0.127, P = 0.02; β = 0.158, P < 0.01), as well as other demographic and obstetric information, explaining 22.0% of the variance in MCS scores totally (F = 12.228, P < 0.01).
Pregnant women perceived lower empathy from their spouses and reported lower HRQoL. Perceived empathy, particularly behavioural empathy, may significantly impact pregnant women's MCS scores but has no effect on their PCS scores. Strategies that foster perceived empathy from spouses among pregnant women are essential for facilitating healthy pregnancies and potentially improving maternal and child health.
同理心是护理关怀的重要组成部分，它会影响护士和患者的结局。然而，配偶在怀孕期间的同理心感知及其对健康相关生活质量（HRQoL）的影响尚不清楚。本研究旨在调查孕妇对配偶的同理心感知，并评估这种感知与 HRQoL 的关系。
这是一项在中国安徽省四家知名医院的产科诊所或病房进行的横断面研究，共纳入 349 名处于妊娠第二或第三阶段的孕妇；采用便利抽样法招募参与者，并于 2021 年 10 月至 12 月期间入组。使用一般信息问卷、人际反应指数（IRI）、专门设计的同理心问卷和医疗结局研究 12 项简明健康调查问卷（SF-12）来评估孕妇的一般信息、同理心感知和 HRQoL。使用 SPSS 22 软件进行数据分析，阈值为 P<0.05。采用描述性分析、皮尔逊相关分析、学生 t 检验、方差分析和多元回归分析进行分析。
孕妇的总体同理心、生理成分总分（PCS）和心理成分总分（MCS）分别为 41.6±9.0、41.6±7.6 和 47.7±9.1。相关性分析显示，专门设计的同理心问卷项目与观点采择和同理心关怀呈显著正相关，但与个人困扰维度不相关，仅与幻想维度部分相关。母亲在怀孕期间的身体状况、计划妊娠和职业压力是 PCS 评分的预测因素（β=0.281，P<0.01；β=0.132，P=0.02；β=-0.128，P=0.02）。我们专门设计的同理心问卷中的行为同理心项目和同理心关怀是 MCS 评分的重要预测因素（β=0.127，P=0.02；β=0.158，P<0.01），以及其他人口统计学和产科信息，总共解释了 MCS 评分变异的 22.0%（F=12.228，P<0.01）。
孕妇感知到配偶的同理心较低，报告的 HRQoL 较低。感知到的同理心，特别是行为同理心，可能会显著影响孕妇的 MCS 评分，但对她们的 PCS 评分没有影响。促进孕妇感知配偶同理心的策略对于促进健康妊娠和潜在改善母婴健康至关重要。
