Sensitivity to Cold in Pregnant Women:Characteristics of Skin Temperature and Its Relationship to Daily Life

Abstract

Aim: Pregnant women often complain about cold sensitivity. While clinical measures of poor circulation correlate with their symptoms, few studies have investigated cold sensitivity in pregnant women. This study analyzed the relationships among (1) characteristics of skin temperature of cold-sensitive pregnant women; (2) accompanying symptoms; and (3) daily patterns.
Methods: The subjects were 230 pregnant women at 20 weeks gestation at the beginning of the investigation, which was conducted in June–July 2005 and November 2005. Instruments were the Terasawa temperature measurement and a questionnaire.
Results and Conclusions: 1. The group with cold-sensitivity had significantly larger temperature differences between forehead and sole of the foot than did the group without cold sensitivity (1.95°C vs 0.60°C in June–July, 5.23°C vs 2.42°C in November). The perception of cold sensitivity correlated with the temperature differences. 2. For the majority of the subjects, their subjective cold sensitivity and Terasawa Standard's cold sensitivity measurement reached a consistency of 80.9%; therefore either method could be used to judge cold-sensitivity. 3. For the non-cold sensitive group, the forehead and the sole temperature differences were strongly influenced by the seasons, however, the percentage of pregnant women with subjective sensitivity to cold was 67.7% in June-July, and 66.0% in November, and therefore not influenced by the seasons. 4. Structural equation modeling indicated that, “deep temperature differences” directly affected “recognition of cold sensitivity” and “recognition of cold sensitivity” directly yet weakly affected “sensitivity to cold related symptoms with pregnancy.” Furthermore, “sensitivity to cold-related symptoms with pregnancy” was directly affected by “irregular life patterns” and was indirectly affected by “irregular meals.”