Pregnant women’s knowledge about and beliefs toward COVID-19 vaccine: a cross-sectional study

Purpose@#The aim of this study was to determine the scope of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of pregnant women about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. @*Materials and Methods@#A total of 886 pregnant women were recruited for the study. A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted on these selected participants. Data about past infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), SARS-CoV-2 infection of closely related people, and deaths due to COVID-19 among their relatives were questioned. @*Results@#The rate of vaccination was higher (64.1%) in pregnant women with higher education levels. Informing about the vaccine, especially by health professionals, showed that the rates of vaccination (25%) increased (p<0.001). In addition, a significant increase was observed in vaccination rates with increasing age and financial income (p<0.001). @*Conclusion@#The main limitation of our study is that the vaccine, which was approved for “emergency use”, was just started to be administered to pregnant women during the study. Our findings show that our target audience, low-income, low-education, younger pregnant women should be given more attention than those who apply to the doctor for routine follow-up.

Lung ultrasonography in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: an interobserver agreement study among obstetricians

Purpose@#This study investigated interobserver agreement in lung ultrasonography (LUS) in pregnant women performed by obstetricians with different levels of expertise, with confirmation by an expert radiologist. @*Methods@#This prospective study was conducted at a tertiary "Coronavirus Pandemic Hospital" in April 2020. Pregnant women suspected to have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were included. Two blinded experienced obstetricians performed LUS on pregnant women separately and noted their scores for 14 lung zones. Following a theoretical and hands-on practical course, one experienced obstetrician, two novice obstetric residents, and an experienced radiologist blindly evaluated anonymized and randomized still images and videoclips retrospectively. Weighted Cohen's kappa and Krippendorff’s alpha tests were used to assess the interobserver agreement. @*Results@#Fifty-two pregnant women were included, with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis rate of 82.7%. In total, 336 eligible still images and 115 videoclips were included in the final analysis. The overall weighted Cohen’s kappa values ranged from 0.706 to 0.912 for the 14 lung zones. There were only seven instances of major disagreement (>1 point) in the evaluation of 14 lung zones of 52 patients (n=728). The overall agreement between the radiologist and obstetricians for the still images (Krippendorff's α=0.856, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.797 to 0.915) and videoclips (Krippendorff's α=0.785; 95% CI, 0.709 to 0.861) was good. @*Conclusion@#The interobserver agreement between obstetricians with different levels of experience on still images and videoclips of LUS was good. Following a brief theoretical course, obstetricians' performance of LUS in pregnant women and interpretation of pre-acquired LUS images can be considered consistent.

Female sexual dysfunction in the late postpartum period among women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus

Objective: To compare the status of female sexual dysfunction [FSD] between women with a history of previous gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM] and those with follow-up of a healthy pregnancy, using the female sexual function index [FSFI] questionnaire

Study Design: Cross-sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, from September to December 2015

Methodology: Healthy sexually active adult parous females were included. Participants were asked to complete the validated Turkish versions of the FSFI and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS] questionnaires. Student's t-test was used for two-group comparisons of normally distributed variables and quantitative data. Mann-Whitney U-test was used for two-group comparisons of non-normally distributed variables. Pearson's chi-squared test, the Fisher-Freeman-Halton test, Fisher's exact test, and Yates' continuity correction test were used for comparison of qualitative data

Results: The mean FSFI scores of the 179 participants was 23.50 +/- 3.94. FSFI scores and scores of desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain were not statistically significantly different [p>0.05], according to a history of GDM and types of FSD [none, mild, severe]. HADS scores and anxiety and depression types did not statistically significantly differ according to the history of GDM [p>0.05]

Conclusion: An association could not be found in FSFI scores between participants with both the history of previous GDM and with healthy pregnancy; subclinical sexual dysfunction may be observed in the late postpartum period among women with a history of previous GDM. This may adversely affect their sexual health