Osteopathic status and quality of life of healthy pregnant women

Abstract

   Introduction. A number of sequentially occurring genetically determined adaptive changes in the body of a pregnant woman accompany her from the moment of conception to the birth of a child, affecting not only physical well-being, but also mental health, thus changing the level of quality of life of a woman. Along with this, physiological changes during pregnancy can serve as a background for the formation of somatic dysfunctions, the severity and level of manifestation of which are determined by the compensatory capabilities of the pregnant woman′s body. Pregnancy as a whole is a crisis period in a woman′s life, and it is during this period that the identification of functional changes and violations of the quality of life can contribute to the prevention of complications during pregnancy.   The aim of the study was to study the osteopathic status and quality of life in pregnant women at different stages of pregnancy.   Materials and methods. A cross-sectional cohort study conducted in the period from January 2022 to March 2023 on the basis of the maternity department of the State Medical Hospital № 16 and the medical center «Medexpert» of Kazan included 75 somatically healthy pregnant women aged 25–35 years who are in different stages of pregnancy. The average age of the subjects was 30 ± 3,8 years at the time of observation. A unified osteopathic examination was performed in all pregnant women with the formation of an osteopathic conclusion and the quality of life was assessed according to the criteria of the SF-36 questionnaire.   Results. The analysis of the results of the conducted studies demonstrated that as pregnancy progresses, somatic dysfunctions of the regional level (pelvic region (p=0,01) and thoracic region (p = 0,03) come to the fore, and indicators of the level of both physical and psychological components of the quality of life significantly decrease (p = 0,02).   Conclusion. Functional changes occurring in the body of a pregnant woman not only have specifics associated with the period of pregnancy, but also serve as a background condition predisposing to the formation of somatic dysfunctions, as well as worsen quality of life indicators.