Background: Early in the postpartum period, mothers are often nervous and tired from the delivery, breast-feeding and caring for a new-born. The aim of this study was to evaluate the process and outcome of using aromatherapy treatments to increase relaxation and decrease fatigue for mothers during the first to the seventh day of the postpartum period. Methods:This non-randomized controlled study with a quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate scores in relaxation and fatigue before and after the intervention. Aromatherapy hand treatments were performed on a purposive sample of 34 postpartum mothers in Tokyo, Japan, from May to July 2016. The single treatment included a choice of one of five essential aroma oils through hand and forearm massage. Relaxation and fatigue were measured by self-administered valid and reliable questionnaires. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted to analyze the data before and after the intervention. The software programs SPSS, v. 23.0 (SPSS, Tokyo), was used to analyze the data, with the significance level set at 5%. Results:Valid responses were obtained from 29 participants. A comparison of the scores before and after aroma treatment intervention indicated that the participants’ relaxation scores increased significantly (P<0.001) and fatigue scores were significantly reduced (P<0.001). The majority of participants (77.8%) were satisfied with the treatment. Conclusion:The aroma treatments significantly improved relaxation and reduced fatigue for mothers in the early puerperal period and were well received. Therefore, a larger study using a pretest-posttest random control trial is recommended.
Aim To dentify the predictors of the quality of life (QOL) of infertile men who are undergoing infertility treatments in Japan and to create a QOL prediction model, with the main variables aimed at providing more adequate support to male patients. Methods This cross‐sectional study used the quantitative data that were collected from 321 returned self‐report questionnaires that had been distributed to the men of 411 couples who were undergoing fertility treatment. The following four scales were used to measure the main outcomes: FertiQoL, psychological distress, spousal support, and workplace support. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, multiple regression analyses, and structural equation modeling. Results The number of returned questionnaires was 321 (78.1%). The QOL that was measured by FertiQoL was significantly lower in those men who were diagnosed with male factor infertility than in the other male patients. The two significant predictors of QOL were: spousal support and the infertility period. The structural equation modeling revealed that the same factors were related to QOL. Conclusions Male factor infertility, less spousal support, and a longer period of infertility were associated with a poorer QOL of those men who were undergoing infertility treatment. These results suggest that focusing on infertility causes, the length of the infertility period, and the couples’ partnership during treatment is needed to provide full support to men who have been diagnosed with infertility.
The results revealed that for a couple undergoing fertility treatments, a strong partnership maintains their QOL, and this could decrease the couples' distress (particularly in women). Partnership was also related to the variability of "medical professionals' support".
Aim: The study's purpose was to examine the effects of providing a partnership support program. It was designed to improve Japanese couples' partnership, maintain quality of life, decrease psychological distress, and improve marital relationship satisfaction while they underwent infertility treatment that included the possibility of using assisted reproductive technology. Methods: This quasi-experimental study with a two-group pretest-post-test design used purposive sampling and non-random assignment of 318 consenting Japanese patients from previous phases of assisted reproductive technology fertility treatment who were patients from a fertility clinic in Tokyo, Japan. The intervention group of 152 patients (76 couples) participated in the partnership support program. The comparison group of 166 patients (83 couples) received usual care. Recruitment was age matched. The program provided information and used a participatory-interactive approach to enhance understanding and cooperation in couples undergoing fertility treatment. The main outcome measures were: "partnership", FertiQoL, Quality Marriage Index, and "psychological distress". Results: There were 311 participants (intervention group n = 148; comparison group, n = 163). The intervention group showed significant improvement in the couples' partnerships and a significant decrease in women's psychological distress using subgroup analysis. Conclusion:The partnership support program provided effective improvement in partnership for the couples, and reduced psychological distress for the women; however, it had less impact for the men. The program was not effective in improving couples' overall quality of life (QOL); however, it was effective in improving the "mind-body" aspects of the QOL subscale.
Background: FertiQoL, which measures the Quality of Life (QOL) of reproductive partners, has been translated and used in 45 languages in the world. The reliability and validity of the original English version of FertiQoL have been confirmed. However, there is still no report on the reliability and validity of the Japanese version by a large-scale survey. This study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the FertiQoL scale for measuring the QOL of patients with reproductive problems. Methods: An unsigned self-filled questionnaire survey was conducted in patients undergoing infertility treatment at seven facilities in the Kanto area in Japan using the 34 items of the Japanese version of the FertiQoL scale. The study design was quantitative cross-sectional descriptive research. The investigation period was from April 2013 to April 2018. The contents of the investigation were attributes, FertiQoL scale, and distress scale. To determine the construct validity, principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and correlation analysis for each subscale were performed using SPSS Statistics Ver. 23.0 and AMOS Ver. 23.0. The study was performed after obtaining approval from the Research Ethics Review Committee of the responsible institutions to which the researchers belong as an ethical consideration. Results: The participants included 1201 patients undergoing infertility treatment and who provided valid responses. The Cronbach's α was 0.92, and confirmatory factor analysis identified six domains with 34 items that showed the following values: goodness of fit index = 0.877, adjusted goodness of fit index = 0.
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