Need for job adjustment in pregnancy: Early prediction based on work history

摘要

Objective - To examine whether a woman's need for job adjustment in pregnancy can be predicted by a short interview on working conditions at the first prenatal visit. Design - Midwives included a semi-structured work history during the interview of unselected first prenatal visits. Their early prediction about the woman's need for job adjustment was compared with the woman's own later report of such need and the need expressed as a risk score for preterm birth based on the woman's self-reported working conditions. Data on both were collected by a questionnaire presented to the woman at about the 36th week of pregnancy. Setting - Seven maternity centres in Oslo, Norway, April 1993-March 1994. Subjects - 160 pregnant women in paid work. Main outcome measures - The proportion of predictions of presence (positive predictive value) or absence (negative predictive value) of need that was confirmed by the woman's later report, or the risk score. Results - The positive predictive value was 86% and the negative predicitve value 50% with the woman's later report as reference, and 56 and 79%, respectively, with the risk score for preterm birth as reference. Conclusion - The work history allows early prediction of need for job adjustment in pregnancy.