Predictors of perception of pregnancy risk among nulliparous women

Objective: To determine factors associated with perception of pregnancy risk using a conceptual framework based on a review of the relevant literature and the psychometric model of risk perception.

Design: A correlational study.

Setting: Ambulatory care and antepartum units of two tertiary hospitals and selected obstetricians' offices and prenatal classes in Winnipeg, Canada.

Participants: A convenience sample of nulliparous women in their third trimester with a singleton pregnancy.

Methods: Between December 2009 and January 2011, the following questionnaires were completed by 159 nulliparous women: the Perception of Pregnancy Risk Questionnaire, the Pregnancy-related Anxiety scale, Knowledge of Maternal Age-related Risks of Childbearing Questionnaire, the SF-12v2 Health Status Survey, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control, and the Prenatal Scoring Form. Pearson's r correlations and stepwise multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted to achieve the research objectives.

Results: Of the eight proposed factors in the conceptual framework, five factors were significant predictors of perception of pregnancy risk, including pregnancy-related anxiety, maternal age, medical risk, perceived internal control, and gestational age, accounting for 47% to 49% of the variance in risk perception. An interaction between the pregnancy-related anxiety score and maternal age was found.

Conclusions: These results contribute to the literature on perception of pregnancy risk by identifying a new predictor (gestational age), supporting the role of previously known factors in the state of pregnancy, and proposing pregnancy-related anxiety as a pregnancy dread factor in risk perception theories. This knowledge may have implications for developing more effective risk communication models.