Clinical indicators of ineffective health maintenance behaviors in women who do not wish to become pregnant: A systematic review.

BackgroundClinical indicators (CI) of the nursing diagnosis (ND) ineffective health maintenance behaviors (IHMB) (00292) may be present in women who do not wish to become pregnant. Thus, nurses should to be attentive of the individual, cultural, and social characteristics of these women in order to identify behaviors (CI) that may represent a risk for unwanted pregnancy.PurposeThis study aimed to identify CI of IHMB in women of childbearing age who do not wish to become pregnant.MethodSystematic review of diagnostic test accuracy.Data sourcesScopus, PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, PsycINFO (Searched on November 12, 2023) and Ovid, Web of Science, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and ProQuest (searched on June 10, 2024).Data synthesisThe final sample resulted in five articles, in which two CI were identified in women who manifested the ND IHMB. "Ineffective choices in daily life for meeting health goals" was identified in women when they did not discuss contraceptive methods with their partners. "Failure to perceive health risk" was identified when women had low or no perception of pregnancy risk.ConclusionTwo CI of IHMB were identified in women who do not wish to become pregnant: "ineffective choices in daily life for meeting health goals" and "failure to perceive health risk."Implications for the profession and/or patient careThese findings will provide nurses a better understanding of behaviors expressed by women who do not wish to become pregnant that prevent them to use contraception, that way nurses can make specific interventions on these issues. Including the indicator failure to perceive health risk to the NANDA International can broaden the spectrum of nurse's assessment for the study population.