BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), is the second most common cancer among Filipino women. Despite vaccine availability, the Philippines has a low 60% immunization rate, driven by hesitancy and poor public awareness.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This study assessed how 100 women (ages 18–45) in Quezon City understood HPV and their willingness to vaccinate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Researchers used a pre–post interventional study and purposive sampling and Cochran’s formula for size calculation. Participants completed a pretest, a Department of Health/World Health Organization/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-based digital educational intervention, a posttest, and a satisfaction survey. Data were gathered confidentially under informed consent.

RESULTS

Results showed significant improvement in knowledge and willingness to vaccinate (P < 0.001), with almost all respondents expressing willingness. The intervention received high satisfaction ratings, proving the digital tool was effective and well-received.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In conclusion, this study demonstrated that a structured digital educational tool effectively bridges knowledge gaps and addresses vaccine hesitancy in a community setting. Findings emphasize the importance of targeted, community-level initiatives to reduce cervical cancer risk. Future research should include teens and males and use a larger randomized sample for definitive evidence.

Human ; Female ; Adolescent: 13-18 Yrs Old ; Young Adult: 19-24 Yrs Old ; Adult: 25-44 Yrs Old ; Middle Aged: 45-64 Yrs Old ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Human Papillomavirus Viruses ; Vaccination ; Women

OBJECTIVES

To validate a method in detecting SARS-CoV-2 via RT-qPCR in pregnant and non-pregnant samples other than nasopharyngeal swabs and/or oropharyngeal swabs such as cervical, rectal, amniotic fluid, placental, umbilical cord blood, and breastmilk.

METHODS

We performed a validation experiment using MGI easy extraction kits and BGI PCR kits on non-conventional specimens, including cervical, rectal, amniotic fluid, placental, umbilical cord blood, and breastmilk to detect and confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we tested the validated method on 572 purposively sampled field-collected non-conventional specimens from a cohort of 109 unvaccinated pregnant and 47 unvaccinated non-pregnant women to assess which candidate non-conventional maternal- and fetal-associated specimens may contribute to maternal-fetal viral vertical transmission.

RESULTS

Positive detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in non-conventional specimens was demonstrated and verified. Of the 572 non-conventional samples tested, 1.8% (10/572) were positively validated by RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2 in the maternal-associated specimens particularly the rectal (5), placental (1), and cervical (4) swabs among six pregnant and four non-pregnant individuals. In contrast, no SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was detected in fetal-associated specimens.

CONCLUSION

The results of the validation study may serve as an additional diagnostic screening layer to support maternal-child care. Furthermore, viral detection in these non-conventional maternal specimens may also be utilized to provide guidance in the clinical management of neonates, and pregnant women during delivery.

Philippines ; Sars-cov-2 ; Pregnant Women ; Umbilical Cord ; Amniotic Fluid ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Placenta

Protein S deficiency causing arterial ischemic stroke during pregnancy is uncommon. Delay or omission of treatment with perfusion therapies may worsen outcomes for both the mother and the fetus. In this paper, we report a case of an early pregnant woman with protein S deficiency and multiple history of chronic cerebrovascular disease who underwent successful thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy. The patient is a 35-year-old woman, eight weeks pregnant, with a history of protein S deficiency and chronic cerebrovascular disease, presenting with rightsided weakness and aphasia. Initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was 10 with cranial magnetic resonance imaging findings of acute infarcts on the left caudate, lentiform nucleus, insula, and frontal lobe with a large vessel occlusion on the proximal M1 segment of the left middle cerebral artery. Intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy were performed with complete recanalization. The patient improved and delivered without any complications after 8 months. Protein S deficiency can contribute to arterial thrombosis including ischemic stroke. Arterial ischemic stroke and large vessel occlusion can cause significant disability if not treated appropriately. Reperfusion therapies in pregnant women show favorable outcomes and should be performed if the benefits outweigh the risks.

Human ; Female ; Adult: 25-44 Yrs Old ; Arteries ; Ischemic Stroke ; Thrombectomy ; Protein S ; Protein S Deficiency ; Pregnant Women

Pregnancy is a critical period in every woman's life. The health of both the mother and her unborn child is at stake, with poor access to needed prenatal care services. Obtaining prenatal care is affected by the pregnancy literacy of the expectant mother. However, the assessment tool for health literacy among Filipino pregnant women is limited. This paper aimed to examine existing maternal health literacy instruments. Hopefully, an adopted tool can be found for assessing prenatal health literacy. After examining existing maternal health literacy tools, 18 questions were suggested that can be further modified before they are used for Filipino pregnant women to assess their prenatal health literacy.
Human ; Female ; Prenatal Care ; Pregnant Women

Various studies have highlighted that women are at a higher risk of becoming victims of cyberbullying, with the severity of cyberbullying among women in many countries increasing and the urgency of having necessary intervention steps by governments and legal institutions in place. Nonetheless, the taboo of discussing mental health and individual struggles has hindered victims from disclosing their cyberbullying experiences they have gone through or are still currently experiencing due to the fear of being discriminated against. Therefore, this study aimed to explore cyberbullying from a victim’s perspective among women with heavy social media usage, as well as their coping strategies. A qualitative research design was utilised to understand the cyberbullying experience and coping strategies among five young women aged between 20 to 26 years old. Participants were recruited through social media. Collected data were analysed using thematic analysis which revealed three cyberbullying themes: “harassment”, “relational aggression” and “trolling”, three initial reaction themes: “anger”, “sadness” and “confusion”, two crossroad themes: “helplessness” and “sense of control” that either lead to the relapse of cyberbullying experience or coping strategies, and three coping strategy themes: “social coping”, “emotion-focused coping” and “problem-focused coping” and lastly, cognitive reappraisal. The findings provide comprehensive insights into understanding cyberbullying experiences and coping strategies among women with heavy social media usage. Understanding the effectiveness of various forms of coping allows mental health professionals to support their clients by finding out the implemented coping strategy and expanding on other forms of coping to build a more holistic support for their clients.
Coping Skills ; Cyberbullying ; Social Media ; Women

Objective: To analyze the association between different treatment timings and adverse neonatal outcomes (premature birth, death, congenital syphilis) in syphilis-infected pregnant women. Methods: The National Management Information System for Prevention of HIV, Syphilis and HBV Mother-to-Child Transmission was used to collect information on the detection and treatment of syphilis-infected pregnant women and their newborns in Guangdong Province from October 2011 to December 2021. According to the gestational weeks of syphilis-infected pregnant women receiving penicillin treatment for the first time, they were divided into four groups: treatment in the first trimester, treatment in the second trimester, treatment in the third trimester, and no treatment during pregnancy. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between different treatment timings and adverse neonatal outcomes in syphilis-infected pregnant women. Results: A total of 22 483 syphilis-infected pregnant women were included. The number of pregnant women who started treatment in the first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester and did not receive treatment during pregnancy were 4 549 (20.23%), 8 719 (38.78%), 2 235 (9.94%) and 6 980 (31.05%), respectively. Compared with pregnant women who started treatment in the first trimester, pregnant women who did not receive anti-syphilis treatment during pregnancy had increased risks of neonatal preterm birth (OR=1.42, 95%CI: 1.24-1.62), death (OR=4.27, 95%CI: 1.64-14.69) and congenital syphilis (OR=12.26, 95%CI: 6.35-27.45). At the same time, the risk of congenital syphilis in the newborns of pregnant women who started anti-syphilis treatment in the second trimester (OR=2.68, 95%CI: 1.34-6.16) and third trimester (OR=6.27, 95%CI: 2.99-14.80) also increased. Conclusion: Early initiation of anti-syphilis treatment during pregnancy in patients with syphilis can improve neonatal outcomes.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Pregnant Women ; Syphilis/diagnosis* ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/drug therapy* ; Syphilis, Congenital/drug therapy* ; Premature Birth ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/prevention & control*

Objective: To analyze the association between different treatment timings and adverse neonatal outcomes (premature birth, death, congenital syphilis) in syphilis-infected pregnant women. Methods: The National Management Information System for Prevention of HIV, Syphilis and HBV Mother-to-Child Transmission was used to collect information on the detection and treatment of syphilis-infected pregnant women and their newborns in Guangdong Province from October 2011 to December 2021. According to the gestational weeks of syphilis-infected pregnant women receiving penicillin treatment for the first time, they were divided into four groups: treatment in the first trimester, treatment in the second trimester, treatment in the third trimester, and no treatment during pregnancy. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between different treatment timings and adverse neonatal outcomes in syphilis-infected pregnant women. Results: A total of 22 483 syphilis-infected pregnant women were included. The number of pregnant women who started treatment in the first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester and did not receive treatment during pregnancy were 4 549 (20.23%), 8 719 (38.78%), 2 235 (9.94%) and 6 980 (31.05%), respectively. Compared with pregnant women who started treatment in the first trimester, pregnant women who did not receive anti-syphilis treatment during pregnancy had increased risks of neonatal preterm birth (OR=1.42, 95%CI: 1.24-1.62), death (OR=4.27, 95%CI: 1.64-14.69) and congenital syphilis (OR=12.26, 95%CI: 6.35-27.45). At the same time, the risk of congenital syphilis in the newborns of pregnant women who started anti-syphilis treatment in the second trimester (OR=2.68, 95%CI: 1.34-6.16) and third trimester (OR=6.27, 95%CI: 2.99-14.80) also increased. Conclusion: Early initiation of anti-syphilis treatment during pregnancy in patients with syphilis can improve neonatal outcomes.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Pregnant Women ; Syphilis/diagnosis* ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/drug therapy* ; Syphilis, Congenital/drug therapy* ; Premature Birth ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/prevention & control*

OBJECTIVES: Pregnancy stress is the psychological confusion or threat caused by various stress events and adverse factors during pregnancy. Pregnant women exposed to many stressors, they will be easy to produce bad mood and prenatal depression if they cannot adapt to their own changes. Prenatal depression is one of the major global public health problems, with a higher incidence in developing countries and a negative impact on the health of pregnant women and fetus. Resilience refers to pregnant women using their own positive psychological capital, can self-emotional adjustment and improve their ability to adapt to the response state. A better level of resilience can enable pregnant women to face various negative and adaptive problems positively. This study aims to investigate the relationship between pregnancy stress, resilience and prenatal depression through a mental health survey of pregnant women. METHODS: A total of 750 pregnant women in a Grade A tertiary hospital in Urumqi were investigated by self-designed demographic questionnaire, Pregnancy Pressure Scale (PPS) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the levels of stress during pregnancy, prenatal depression and resilience were analyzed. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between the three. Bootstrap mediation effect test was used to test the mediation effect relationship among the three. If the mediation effect was confirmed, AMOS software was used to establish the mediation effect structural equation model to analyze the mediation effect among the three. RESULTS: Among 750 respondents, 709 (94.53%) had mild or above pregnancy pressure, 459 (61.20%) had mild or above depressive symptoms and 241 (32.13%) had a good or above level of resilience. Pearson correlation analysis showed that prenatal depression was significantly positively correlated with pregnancy stress (P<0.01), prenatal depression and pregnancy stress were significantly negatively correlated with resilience (all P<0.01). Mediation effect test analysis showed that all the pathways were statistically significant (P<0.01). Mediation effect of resilience between pregnancy stress and prenatal depression was significantly found (95% CI 0.022-0.068, P<0.001). Pregnancy pressure negatively affected resilience (β=-0.38, P<0.01), and resilience negatively affected prenatal depression (β=-0.10, P<0.01). The mediation effect of resilience was 6.5%. CONCLUSIONS Pregnant women's pregnancy pressure, resilience and prenatal depression are significantly correlated, and the mediation variable resilience plays a partial mediating role in the impact of pregnancy pressure on prenatal depression. Pregnant women can reduce the incidence of prenatal depression and promote their physical and mental health by exercising their resilience.
Pregnancy ; Humans ; Female ; Depression/epidemiology* ; Pregnant Women ; Exercise ; Fetus ; Mental Health

Background: The majority of women described hysterosalpingography (HSG) as a painful procedure. There is little information on the features of HSG-associated pain and factors that predispose to increased pain experience. Objectives: This study investigated preprocedure psychological state and related demographic factors as predictors of pain perception in women undergoing HSG. Methods: The sample included 99 women selected through consecutive sampling at the Radiology Department, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. The study utilized a cross-sectional survey design to collect data using Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, and Visual Analog Scale for the perception of pain and state anxiety. Results: The women with lower state anxiety reported significantly lower pain perception (X̅ = 6.69) than the women with high anxiety (X̅ = 7.93). Trait anxiety, state anxiety, and depression jointly predicted pain perception among the women undergoing HSG, with R2 = 0.117, F (3,95) = 6.797; P < 0.001. They collectively accounted for about 17.7% variance in pain perception. Conclusion Patients being prepared for the HSG procedure can be educated on concerns related to anxiety and coping strategies and be provided with anxiolytics or other medication as clinically indicated.
Demography ; Pain Perception ; Women

Objective: To investigate the relationship between positive anti-Ro/Sjögren syndrome antigen type A (SSA) antibody and anti-La/Sjögren syndrome antigen type B (SSB) antibody in pregnant women and neonatal adverse outcomes. Methods: This study was a retrospective study, and 145 deliveries of 136 anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibody positive pregnant women were selected who had prenatal examination and delivered in Peking University First Hospital from January 2017 to June 2022. According to whether adverse neonatal outcomes occurred, 145 deliveries were divided into adverse outcome group (26 cases) and no adverse outcome group (119 cases). According to the time when anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies were found positive, 145 deliveries were divided into the antibody positive during pregnancy group (69 cases) and the pre-pregnancy antibody positive group (76 cases). The pregnancy outcomes, treatment and maternal and infant antibody levels of pregnant women between the adverse outcome group and no adverse outcome group, between antibody positive during pregnancy group and the pre-pregnancy antibody positive group were compared. Results: (1) Most of the pregnant women with positive anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies were diagnosed as undifferentiated connective tissue disease, accounting for 40.4% (55/136), followed by Sjogren's syndrome (25.0%, 34/136), systemic lupus erythematosus (23.5%, 32/136), antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (6.6%, 9/136), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (1.5%, 2/136), and 4 cases were not diagnosed. (2) The titers of anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies in the first trimester and the second trimester were compared, and there were no statistical significances (all P>0.05). (3) The proportion of high level anti-Ro/SSA antibody (>100 kU/L), positive level of anti-La/SSB antibody and positive rate of anti-La/SSB antibody in the adverse outcome group were higher than those in the no adverse outcome group, and the birth weight of newborns and live birth rate in the adverse outcome group were lower than that in the no adverse outcome group, all with statistical significances (all P<0.05). The anti-Ro/SSA antibody level, the proportion of drug treatment (hydroxychloroquine, glucocorticoid, gamma globulin), the incidence of fetal growth restriction (FGR), the rate of preterm birth, and the positive level of anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies in newborns were compared between the two groups, and there were no statistically significant differences (all P>0.05). (4) The anti-Ro/SSA antibody level of pregnant women in the pre-pregnancy antibody positive group, the proportion of hydroxychloroquine and glucocorticoid treatment, and the anti-Ro/SSA antibody positive rate of newborns were higher, while the incidence of FGR and gamma globulin treatment rate of newborns in the antibody positive during pregnancy group were higher, respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). The levels of anti-La/SSB antibodies in pregnant women, anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies in newborns, the positive rate of anti-La/SSB antibodies in newborns and the incidence of adverse outcomes were compared between the antibody positive during pregnancy group and the pre-pregnancy antibody positive group, and there were no statistical significances (all P>0.05). Conclusions: High concentrations of anti-Ro/SSA antibodies and co-positive anti-La/SSB antibodies during pregnancy may increase the incidence of adverse neonatal outcomes. There is no significant difference in the incidence of adverse neonatal outcomes between antibody positive pregnant women and antibody positive pregnant women who were first found during pregnancy after comprehensive treatment in the rheumatology and immunology department.
Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Sjogren's Syndrome/drug therapy* ; Pregnant Women ; Hydroxychloroquine/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Glucocorticoids ; Premature Birth/epidemiology* ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/drug therapy* ; Pregnancy Outcome ; gamma-Globulins