The effects of the informed consent given for cesarean section on anxiety and knowledge

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the effects of information given before cesarean section on women's anxiety levels and their knowledge about informed consent regarding it. Materials and Methods: Sixty women who elected to undergo cesarean section were included in the study. The data were collected using the pregnancy-related clinical information form, informed consent form, cesarean information form, and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test and Pearson correlation were used as statistical methods. Results: The women's knowledge scores before and after they were informed about cesarean section were 14.8 +/- 5.5 and 29.8 +/- 2.6, respectively (p < 0.05). Their state anxiety scores before and after they were informed about cesarean section were 28.4 +/- 6.6 and 28.0 +/- 5.9, respectively (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that the participants' pre-training knowledge scores about cesarean section increased significantly after they were informed, and that their state and trait anxiety scores decreased very little after they were informed.