RT journal article
T1 Association between Flexibility, Measured with the Back-Scratch Test, and the Odds of Oxytocin Administration during Labour and Caesarean Section
A1 Aparicio, V.A.
A1 Marín Jiménez, Nuria
A1 Castro Piñero, José
A1 Flor-Alemany, Marta
A1 Coll-Risco, Irene
A1 Baena García, Laura
A2 Didáctica de la Educación FísicaPlástica y Musical
K1 pregnant woman
K1 physical fitness
K1 flexibility;
K1 oxytocin;
K1 labour;
K1 obstetric risk
AB This study explored whether assessing flexibility levels in clinical settings mightpredict the odds of oxytocin administration and caesarean section to stimulate labour. Methods:Pregnant women from the GESTAFIT Project (n = 157), participated in this longitudinal study.Maternal upper-body flexibility was assessed at 16 gestational weeks (g.w.) through the Back-scratchtest. Clinical data, including oxytocin administration and type of birth, were registered from obstetricmedical records. Results: Pregnant women who required oxytocin administration or had caesareansections showed lower flexibility scores (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). The receiver operatingcharacteristic curve analysis showed that the Back-scratch test was able to detect the need for oxytocinadministration ((area under the curve [AUC] = 0.672 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.682 (95% CI:0.59–0.78, p = 0.001)). The AUC to establish the ability of flexibility to discriminate between vaginaland caesarean section births was 0.672 (95% CI: 0.60–0.77, p = 0.002). A Back-scratch test worse than4 centimetres was associated with a ~5 times greater increased odds ratio of requiring exogenousoxytocin administration (95% CI: 2.0–11.6, p = 0.001) and a ~4 times greater increased odds ratio ofhaving a caesarean section (95% CI: 1.7–10.2, p = 0.002). Conclusions: These findings suggest thatlower flexibility levels at the 16th g.w. discriminates between pregnant women who will requireoxytocin and those who will not, and those with a greater risk of a caesarean section than those witha vaginal birth. Pregnant women below the proposed Back-scratch test cut-offs at 16th g.w. mightspecifically benefit from physical therapies that include flexibility training.
PB MDPI
SN 2077-0383
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/35591
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/35591
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 21-sep-2026