Childbirth pain communicative behaviors among selected laboring Thai women.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe characteristics of childbirth pain communicative behaviors among laboring Thai women, determine mode of pain communication, and determine relationships among behaviors and parturients, age, parity, education, and occupation. This study employed an exploratory description design. Direct structural observation was used to collect data. The study was conducted at a general hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, with 32 subjects participating. The "Observation Checklist of Laboring Women's Behavior" was used to record the subjects' behaviors. Descriptive statistics, the t test, and Pearson product moment correlation were used to analyze data. Data analysis indicated that the subjects of this study communicated pain via nonverbal channels and in a quiet manner. The range of nonverbal behaviors ranked from the greatest to the least frequent occurrences and included tactual, facial, lips, body movements, eyes, and respiratory behaviors. The range of verbal reports ranked from the greatest to the lowest frequencies and included reports of sensation, self evaluation of tolerance of pain, asking for information, requesting help and comfort, and asking for permission. Reports of pain were the most predominant of all the verbal reports. There were no statistically significant differences between behaviors and age, parity, education, and occupation. Pain behaviors were more prevalent among primiparae. Subjects who were younger or had fewer years of education ask for more information relating to the childbirth process compared with their counterparts. The younger subjects tended to communicate their pain via verbal mode; the older subjects tended to communicate their pain through nonverbal channels. Information derived from this study contributed to clinical practice, research, and theoretical knowledge of nursing. The information will help nurses understand about pain communication among the Thai women. Findings also will serve as empirical data for future investigations and can be used as a basis for childbirth pain assessment. The findings of this study are not generalizable because subjects were not randomly selected and the sample size was small. Recommendations for future study include the use of larger sample sizes, refinement of the checklist, and the use of multiple methods to collect the data.