Communication, compliance and perinatal risks of Turkish females in Tyrol

Abstract

Migrant workers from Turkey and their families make up 1% of the population of the Tyrol province in the west of Austria. They are the largest group of aliens. 152 Turkish women who were seen at our obstetrics department were investigated. Records of 121 women who had given birth to infants in the years 1984-86 were compared. 31 pregnant women were interviewed in their native language. More than 80% of all women studied went for routine check-ups four times or more during pregnancy. A number of conditions that would otherwise remain undetected are being diagnosed at routine pregnancy checks: tuberculosis, diabetes, genetic disease. Although patient compliance is good in this group, communication problems often put a successful outcome of the pregnancy at risk. Many women, who have been living in Austria for many years, are still unable to speak and understand German. Unqualified interpreters (husbands, children, relatives, hospital cleaning staff that is composed largely of Turks) often create problems by making up things the doctor would like to hear. The rate of cesarean sections is 11% in this group. Perinatal infant mortality rate is much higher than in the native Austrian population. The strict hygienic rules of Islam, the support and nurture supplied by the tightly-knit family structure of Turkish emigrants and a basically confident and trusting attitude towards doctors and nurses, if these can make themselves understood, should be recognised as positive factors and should be used to reduce perinatal risks in pregnant Turkish women.