Friedman Matan, Mor Liat, Segman Irit, Mizrachi Yossi, Shushan Noa Ben, Eisenberg Hagit, Shieldkrot Tamar, Weiner Eran, Barda Giulia
Department of Obstetrics and Genecology, Edith, Wolfson Medical Centre, Holon and Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel (Friedman, Mor, Segman, Mizrachi, Shushan, Eisenberg, Shieldkrot, Weiner, and Barda).
Department of Obstetrics and Genecology, Edith, Wolfson Medical Centre, Holon and Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel (Friedman, Mor, Segman, Mizrachi, Shushan, Eisenberg, Shieldkrot, Weiner, and Barda).
Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2025 Jun;7(6):101667. doi: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2025.101667. Epub 2025 Mar 15.
Induction of labor (IOL) is frequently performed worldwide. While IOL is often medically necessary to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes, the process can be associated with considerable anxiety, particularly for nulliparous women.
To evaluate the impact of an informative educational video on anxiety levels among women undergoing term IOL.
This randomized controlled trial included 167 women who underwent term IOL at a single medical center between April 2024 and August 2024. Participants in the "video group" (n=81) watched an 8-minute animated video detailing IOL methods and risks in addition to standard counseling. Participants in the control group (n=86) only received standard counseling. Anxiety levels were measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before and after the procedure. The primary outcome was the change in STAI scores. Secondary outcomes including patient satisfaction, as reported on a scale of one to five.
Baseline STAI scores before receiving any counseling regarding IOL were similar between the study groups. Postprocedure, women allocated to the video group demonstrated lower anxiety levels compared to women in the control group (38.9±11.0 vs 44.1±11.3, P=.002). Moreover, the decrease in STAI scores was greater in the video group (4.4±7.9 vs 0.6±10.0, P=.007). Multivariate analysis confirmed that the video intervention was independently associated with reduced anxiety (β -7.8, 95% CI -15.1 to -0.5). Finally, Patient satisfaction was also higher in the video group (4.4±0.6 vs 4.1±0.9, P=.018).
An informative educational video prior to IOL is an effective, low-cost intervention for reducing patient anxiety and improving satisfaction during labor induction. El resumen está disponible en Español al final del artículo.
