Self-care Performance of Iranian Pregnant Women in Preventing COVID-19 Infection and Its Relationship With Perceived Stress

Background: The crisis of COVID-19 disease causes stress in the whole population, including pregnant women, and because pregnancy is a potentially stressful event, it can lead to complications in both mother and fetus. Considering the importance of prevention in controlling of this infection, the present study was conducted to determine the status of self-care performance of pregnant women in the prevention of COVID-19 disease and its relationship with perceived stress during the epidemic period of this disease. Method: This cross-sectional study was performed on 228 pregnant women who referred to Tabriz-Iran health centers for prenatal care by cluster sampling. Data collection tools included questionnaires of demographic-social characteristics, self-care performance and perceived stress. Spearman correlation test was used to examine the correlation between self-care performance and perceived stress in bivariate analysis and in multivariate analysis, multivariate linear regression with control of demographic-social and obstetric characteristics as possible confounders, was used. Results: The median (25-75 percentiles) self-care performance score of participants was 0.71 (0.65-0.76) from the achievable range of 20-80, and the mean (±SD) perceived stress score of them was 25.5 (± 5.6) from the achievable range of 0-56. The Spearman’s rank correlation test results showed a significant inverse correlation between perceived stress and self-care performance scores. According to multivariate linear regression test, the variables of self-care performance, education, spouse's education and number of family members were the predictors of perceived stress in pregnant women during COVID-19 epidemic. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the self-care performance of pregnant women in the prevention of COVID-19 disease was good and their stress was moderate. There was a significant inverse correlation between self-care performance and perceived stress, which could indicate the high value and importance of the fetus for the mother and strict adherence to health protocols to prevent COVID-19, which also leads to calming and reduced perceived stress.