Covid-19 Pandemisinin Pandemi Sürecinde Doğum Yapan Kadınların Bebek Bakımı ile İlgili Obsesif Kompulsif Davranışları Üzerindeki Etkileri

Abstract

Çağıl Z.N., The Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Obsessive Compulsive Behaviors Related to Babysitting in Women Who Gave Birth During the Pandemic Process, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Thesis, Ankara, 2022. The Covid-19 infection, declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has been affecting the whole world for more than two years. Its rapid transmission, high death rates, lack of effective treatments and large quarantine measures have led to psychological disorders such as fear, anxiety and depression in humans. While it is difficult to adapt to the dynamic process especially in the postpartum period, the change in living conditions due to the pandemic has also negatively affected the psychology of mothers in the postpartum period. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is among these problems. Regardless of the pandemic, the perinatal period is a risk factor for the onset and exacerbation of OCD; It was aimed to investigate the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the obsessive-compulsive behaviors of mothers who gave birth during the pandemic process. 103 women registered to Gülveren Family Health Center and had children after March 11, 2020 were included in our study. The data were collected face-to-face using the personal information form prepared by the researcher, the obsessive-compulsive behavior scale for postpartum baby care, the coronavirus anxiety scale and the postpartum depression scale. In the study, it was determined that the majority of mothers increased the frequency and duration of hand washing and the use of disinfectants. It was determined that the majority of the participants who had more than one child treated their children born in the pandemic more carefully or with the same care. It was determined that the sociodemographic-clinical characteristics of the participants and their Covid-19 infection status were not effective on obsessive-compulsive behavior towards baby care in the postpartum period. Obsessive-compulsive scale scores were found to be statistically significantly higher only in mothers whose children did not have a chronic disease. It was determined that coronavirus anxiety and postpartum depression did not affect obsessive-compulsive behaviors towards infant care. Our findings were discussed with the support of the literature and shed light on clinicians about the detection of mothers at high risk of experiencing OCD during the epidemic and the effect of these symptoms on infant care. Considering the limitations of the research, studies with a higher number of participants and studies outside the pandemic are needed to compare the effects of the pandemic.

Keywords: Covid-19, postpartum period, obsessive compulsive disorder