NCT03692923

VIRTUAL COMMUNITY for PREGNANT WOMEN

Impact of A Peer Virtual Community on Pregnant Women's Well-being: A Quasi-experimental Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 138 (actual)
• Sponsor: Tzu Chi University · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 20 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The study aimed to investigate the effect of exclusive peer-to-peer virtual support on pregnant women's well-being including physical symptoms, depression, social support, maternal attachment, and pregnancy adaptation.

Detailed description

The pregnancy period is marked by not only the joy and excitement of bonding with her baby but also dramatic changes in her body. The Internet's convenience and anonymity provide great possibilities for pregnant women to create a social network for sharing personal stories, seeking information and asking questions, and expressing own emotions and concerns. Although health-related online communities are emerging rapidly around the globe, little is known about the impact of a virtual peer community on pregnant women's well-being. The study enrolled 138 pregnant women, who were assigned to either the experimental or control groups. After obtaining informed consent from participants, we asked them to fill out the baseline questionnaires (Time 1). The first and second follow-ups (Times 2 and 3) were conducted at 22-24 and 36-38 weeks of pregnancy, respectively. Participants in the experimental group received ordinary prenatal care in addition to virtual community participation, and those in the control group received only ordinary prenatal care.

Conditions

• Normal Pregnancy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	virtual community

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-05-01
• Primary completion: 2015-01-31
• Completion: 2015-01-31
• First posted: 2018-10-02
• Last updated: 2018-10-04