Symptom perception during treatment of preterm labor: an experimental approach to measure the benefits of psychological intervention

Abstract

Tocolytic treatment with β-sympathicomimetics is known to cause many side-effects in women. A pilot-study was carried out to determine whether psychological intervention could reduce the reporting of physical and emotional symptoms associated with this treatment. The experimental intervention was chosen on the basis of Pennebaker's (1982) cognitive psychological theory on the perception of physical symptoms. Thirty women, admitted to hospital with signs of preterm labor and subsequently treated with β-sympathicomimetic drugs, were randomly assigned to three conditions. The two experimental groups were offered either distracting visual information (an animation film) or a video film containing information on preterm labor. The control group received no special treatment. Emotional and physical symptoms were measured before and directly after experimental intervention by means of an adapted version of Pennebaker's Emotion Symptom Checklist (ESC). The results showed post-test symptom scores to be significantly lower in the distraction and information condition as compared to the control condition, whereas the difference between the distraction and information condition did not reach significance. Based on the results of this small experiment, a tentative conclusion can be that psychological intervention may contribute to the well-being of women during tocolytic treatment by reducing the pharmacologically induced side-effects of β-sympathicomimetics. Further research is needed to determine which type of intervention is most effective.