Abstract:
The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to study the effect of
health counseling on anxiety and self-care of thalassemia-carrier pregnant women.
The Orems Self-care theory and Rogers Person-Centered Counseling were used
as the conceptual framework for this study. The subjects of this study were 70
pregnant women who attended the antenatal care unit, Ramathibodi Hospital
during September 2008 February 2009 and were diagnosed as thalassemiacarriers
while their husbands were or were not thalassemia-carriers. The first 35
pregnant women were the control group who received usual nursing care. The other
35 pregnant women were the experiment group who received health counseling
including usual nursing care. The anxiety and self-care of both groups were
measured twice using Spielbergers State Anxiety Inventory and Self-care
Agency Inventory. The first measurement was taken before health counseling from
the researcher. The second measurement was taken at the gestation age at 20 weeks
(ultrasound screening) and after health counseling from the researcher. Data were
analyzed by using Descriptive Statistics, Chi-square test, Independent t-test, and
Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).
The results showed that when controlling the state of anxiety score and the
self-care agency score before the experiment, it was found that pregnant women in
the experimental group had anxiety lower than (F(1, 67) = 45.09 ,p < .001), and had
self-care higher than (F(1, 67) = 11.94, p < .01) after health counseling, which was
statistically significantly.
This study showed that health counseling on thalassemia-carrier pregnant
women gave them some knowledge and essential self-care behavior and could
reduce anxiety and could improve their self-care