title: Factors affecting sexual life during pregnancy in eastern Turkey.
abstract: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study aiming to determine the factors affecting sexual life in pregnant women. The study was carried out in 238 women in Malatya, Turkey. It was found that 61.4% regarded coitus as a risk during pregnancy, 31.9% did not have any knowledge about this matter. In 81.5% sexual life was affected during pregnancy. The mean frequency of intercourse was 2.02 +/- 0.7/week before pregnancy and decreased to 1.51 +/- 0.6/week during pregnancy. The reasons for this decline are: exhaustion and fatigue (64.3%); waning of sexual desire (55.9%); harmful to the fetus (49.2%); causing abortions in early pregnancy (45%), and inducing preterm labor (34%). There was a significant relationship between changes in sexual life during pregnancy and the duration of marriage (chi2=10.8, p<0.05), education level (chi2=18.1, p<0.05), parity (chi2=11.1, p<0.05), and gravidity (chi2=6.8, p<0.05). The variables such as age, employment status, and number of abortions did not affect sexual life during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Ataturk University School of Nursing, Erzurum, Turkey. aryilmaz@atauni.edu.tr
authors.forename: Gülşen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eryilmaz
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ege
authors.forename: Handan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zincir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey