ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression refers to a depressive episode or depressive symptoms up to 12 mo after delivery. Trait mindfulness has presented a protective factor for postpartum depressive symptoms and proved efficient in improving relationship satisfaction among couples. AIM: To investigate the correlations among mindfulness, marital quality, anxiety, and depression in a large city in western China during the post-corona virus infectious disease-2019 era and determine whether trait mindfulness mediates the relationship between marital quality and postpartum anxiety and depression among primiparas. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. The self-administered questionnaire was submitted online through smartphones. The levels of mindfulness, anxiety, depression, and marital quality were respectively investigated by the mindful attention awareness scale (MAAS), the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), the self-rating depression scale (SDS), and the marriage perception scale (MPS) in these enrolled Han and Tujia primiparas. RESULTS: No statistical significance was observed in the prevalence of postpartum anxiety and depression, nor scores of MAAS and MPS-Total in different regions or ethnicities (P > 0.05). However, MPS-Marital interaction (P < 0.05), MPS-Family relationship (MPS-FR) (P < 0.01), and MPS-Marital conflict (MPS-MC) (P < 0.01) scores of urban primiparas were higher than those of rural primiparas. The MPS-MC score of Han primiparas was higher than that of Tujia primiparas (P < 0.05). Negative correlations were observed between MAAS and SAS (r = -0.457, P < 0.01), and MAAS and SDS (r = -0.439, P < 0.01). SAS has revealed a highly positive correlation with SDS (r = 0.720, P < 0.01) and a weak negative correlation with MPS (r = -0.200, P < 0.05). Besides, a weak negative correlation was observed between MAAS and MPS-MC (r = -0.184, P < 0.05), and a weak positive correlation was noticed between SAS and MPS-MC (r = -0.225, P < 0.01). Mediation analysis demonstrated a full mediation effect of mindfulness level on the relationship between MPS-FR and postpartum anxiety (P < 0.05, 95%CI: -0.384 to 0.033), MPS-MC and postpartum anxiety (P < 0.01, 95%CI: 0.027-0.193), MPS-FR and postpartum depression (P < 0.05, 95%CI: -0.365 to 0.031), and MPS-MC and postpartum depression (P < 0.01, 95%CI: 0.022-0.206). CONCLUSION: Mindfulness demonstrates negative correlations with marital conflict, postpartum anxiety and depression, and it may have cross-ethnic and trans-regional characteristics. Although the mindfulness levels have revealed no significant mediating effect between the total score of marital quality and postpartum depression in this study, it demonstrates a full mediation effect on the relationships between family relationships, marital conflict, and postpartum anxiety and depression.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hinggan League is located in the Northeast of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the historically endemic area of animal and human brucellosis. In this study, the epidemiological characteristics of human brucellosis were analyzed, and the genotypic profile and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Brucella melitensis strains isolated from humans in Hinggan League were investigated. METHODS: The epidemic characteristics were described using case number, constituent ratio, and rate. The 418 human blood samples were collected and tested by bacteriology, and suspect colonies were isolated and identified by conventional biotyping assays, the VITEK 2.0 microbial identification system, and AMOS (Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, B. ovis, and B. suis)-PCR. Subsequently, all strains were genotyped using multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) assays, and the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Brucella strains against the 10 most commonly used antibiotics was determined by microdilution method. RESULTS: A total of 22 848 cases of human brucellosis were reported from 2004 to 2019, with an annual average incidence of 87.2/100 000. The incidence rates in developed areas of animal husbandry (Horqin Youyi Qianqi [161.2/100 000] and Horqin Youyi Zhongqi [112.1/100 000]) were significantly higher than those in forest areas (Arxan [19.2/100 000]) (χ2 = 32.561, P < 0.001). In addition, peak morbidity occurred during May-August, accounting for 72.6% (16582/22 848) of cases. The highest number of cases occurred in the 40+ age group, accounting for 44.4% (10 137/22484) of cases, and morbidity in males was significantly higher than that in females in all age groups (χ2 = 299.97, P < 0.001), the most common occupation was farmers. A total of 54 B. melitensis strains were divided into 37 genotypes (GT1-37) with 80-100% genetic similarity. All 25 strains were sensitive to seven tested antibiotics, phenotypic resistance to cotrimoxazole and azithromycin was observed in 5 (20%) and 25 (100%) of the isolates, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Human brucellosis exhibited a significant increasing trend and B. melitensis is the main pathogen responsible for human brucellosis in this region. Improved surveillance of infected animals (sheep) and limiting their transfer and trade are optional strategies for decreasing the incidence of this disease.
