Pregnancy Complications in Pandemics: Is Pregnancy-Related Anxiety a Possible Physiological Risk Factor?
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 19(19)2022 Sep 25.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2043746
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Birth and pregnancy complications increased by 10.2% during the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Pregnant women are at high risk for anxiety, which might trigger physio-logical stress, leading to pregnancy complications.AIM:
This study aimed to investigate factors leading to antenatal anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also aimed to discuss our find-ings with regard to the current literature about pregnancy complications.METHODS:
This cross-sectional study interviewed 377 pregnant women and assessed anxiety using a validated 7-item general anxiety disorder (GAD-7) scale. Anxiety was related to physiological and demo-graphic parameters. Anxiety was subdivided into pandemic- and pregnancy-related anxiety to minimize results bias.RESULTS:
Our results showed that 75.3% of pregnant women were anxious. The mean GAD-7 score was 8.28 ± 5. Linear regression analysis showed that for every increase in the number of previous pregnancies, there was a 1.3 increase in anxiety level (p < 0.001). Women with no previous miscarriages were more anxious (p < 0.001). Surprisingly, pregnant women who were previously infected with COVID-19 were 6% less stressed. Pregnant women with comorbid-ities were more stressed (p < 0.001). Low income (p < 0.001) and age (p < 0.05) were the demo-graphic factors most significantly related to increased anxiety.CONCLUSIONS:
The prevalence of pregnancy-related anxiety increased threefold in Saudi Arabia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare support should be available remotely during pandemics; pregnant women (especially those with comorbidities) should be educated about the risks of infection and complications to prevent anxiety-related complications during pregnancy.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pregnancy Complications
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph191912119
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