Mental Health of COVID-19 Pandemic from Pregnancy to Postpartum Period: A Longitudinal Study

Year 2023, , 307 - 314, 06.09.2023

Sidika Özlem Cengizhan , Esra Güney , Esra Sabancı Baransel , Esra Karataş Okyay , Tuba Uçar

https://doi.org/10.26453/otjhs.1175030

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of stress levels of prenatally diagnosed or contacted pregnant women on anxiety and depression symptoms in the postpartum period and compare them with those who had a healthy pregnancy period.
Materials and Methods: This internet-based longitudinal study was conducted with pregnant women with COVID-19(+) (n=91), contact with COVID-19(+) (n=74), and healthy pregnant women (n=220).
Results: Severe anxiety was found in 51.4% of COVID-19(+) pregnant women, and depression was found in 28.7%. NuPDQ and BAI mean scores of positive pregnant women were higher than contact and healthy pregnant women. When the EPDS score averages were compared, it was determined that the postpartum period mean scores of those who were positive during pregnancy and were in contact were higher than those of healthy pregnant women. There is a positive correlation between the psychological effects of pregnant women from COVID-19 and social isolation and NuPDQ (r=0.316, r=0.279), BAI (r=0.337, r=0.293) and EPDS (r=0.333, r=0.311) respectively relationship was determined.
Conclusion: Our results point to the need to provide urgent psychosocial support in the postpartum period to women who were diagnosed and/or had contact with COVID-19 during pregnancy.

Keywords

Anxiety, COVID-19, depression, pregnancy, stress

COVID-19 Pandemisinde Gebelikten Doğum Sonrasına Ruh Sağlığı: Boylamsal Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, prenatal dönemde COVID-19 tanısı konmuş veya temaslı gebelerin stres düzeylerinin pastpartum dönemdeki anksiyete ve depresyon semptomlarına etkisini belirleyerek, gebelik sürecini sağlıklı geçirenlerle karşılaştırmaktır.
Materyal ve Metot: İnternet tabanlı longitudinal tipte olan bu çalışma, COVID-19 (+) gebeler (n=91), COVID-19 (+) ile temaslı gebeler (n=74) ve sağlıklı gebelerle (n=220) yürütüldü.
Bulgular: COVID-19 (+) gebelerin %51,4’ünde şiddetli düzeyde anksiyete, %28,7’sinde depresyon varlığı belirlendi. Pozitif gebelerin NuPDQ ve BAI puan ortalamalarının temaslı ve sağlıklı gebelerden daha yüksek olduğu saptandı. EPDS puan ortalamaları karşılaştırıldığında, gebeliğinde pozitif ve temaslı olanların postpartum dönem puan ortalamalarının sağlıklı gebelerden daha yüksek olduğu belirlendi. Gebelerin COVID-19’dan ve sosyal izolasyondan psikolojik etkilenimleri ile NuPDQ (sırasıyla r=0,316, r=0,279), BAI (sırasıyla r=0,337, r=0,293) ve EPDS (sırasıyla r=0,333, r=0,311) arasında pozitif yönde ilişki olduğu belirlendi.
Sonuç: Sonuçlarımız, gebelik süresince COVID-19 tanı almış ve/veya temaslı olmuş kadınlara postpartum dönemde acil psikososyal destek sağlama ihtiyacına işaret ediyor.

Keywords

Anksiyete, COVID-19, gebelik, depresyon, stres

References

• WHO. WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/. Accessed August 18, 2022.
• Cullen W, Gulati G, Kelly BD. Mental health in the Covid-19 pandemic. QJM: An Int J of Med. 2020;113(5):311-312.
• Geraldo da Silva A, Marques Miranda D, Paim Diaz A, Silva Teles A, Fernandes Malloy-Diniz L, Pacheco Palha A. Mental health: Why it still matters in the midst of a pandemic. Braz J Psychiatry. 2020;42(3):229–231.
• Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, et al. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. IRJPEH. 2020;17(5):1729.
• Luo M, Guo L, Yu M, Wang H. The psychological and mental impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on medical staff and general public – a systematic review and meta-analysis. Res Psychiatry. 2020;29:13190.
• Lebel C, MacKinnon A, Bagshawe M, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Giesbrecht G. Elevated depression and anxiety symptoms among pregnant individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Affect Disord Rep. 2020;277:5–13.
• Mappa I, Distefano FA, Rizzo G. Effects of coronavirus 19 pandemic on maternal anxiety during pregnancy: A prospectic observational study. J Perinatal Med. 2020;48(6):545–550.
• Coussons-Read ME. Effects of prenatal stress on pregnancy and human development: mechanisms and pathways. Obstet Med. 2013;6(2):52–57.
• Bussières EL, Tarabulsy GM, Pearson J, Tessier R, Forest JC, Giguère Y. Maternal prenatal stress and infant birth weight and gestational age: A meta-analysis of prospective studies. Developmental Rev. 2015;36:179–199.
• Meaney MJ. Perinatal maternal depressive symptoms as an issue for population health. Am J Psychiatry. 2018;175(11):1084–1093.
• Kotabagi P, Fortune L, Essien S, Nauta M, Yoong W. Anxiety and depression levels among pregnant women with COVID‐19. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavic. 2020; 99(7):953–954.
• Durankuş F, Aksu E. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depressive symptoms in pregnant women: a preliminary study. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020;18:1–7.
• Yüksel F, Durna Z. Adaptation of Prenatal Distress Scale to Turkish and factor analysis. J Education Res in Nursing. 2011; 8(3):43–51.
• Lobel M, Cannella DL, Graham JE, DeVincent C, Schneider J, Meyer BA. Pregnancy-specific stress, prenatal health behaviors, and birth outcome. Health Psychology. 2008;27:604–615.
• Ulusoy M, Şahin NH, Erkmen H. Turkish version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric properties. J Cogn Ther. 1998;12:163–172.
• Engindeniz AN, Küey L, Kültür S. Turkish version of Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale validity and reliability study. Spring Symposiums. 1996;1:51–52.
• Ayaz R, Hocaoğlu M, Günay T, Yardımcı OD, Turgut A, Karateke A. Anxiety and depression symptoms in the same pregnant women before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Perinatal Med. 2020;48(9):965–970.
• Ng Q, Koh K, Tagore S, Mathur M. Perception and feelings of antenatal women during covid-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey. Ann Acad Med Singap. 2020;50:543–552.
• Saccone G, Florio A, Aiello F, et al. Psychological impact of coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnant women. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2020;223(2):293-295.
• Banerjee D, Rai M. Social isolation in Covid-19: The impact of loneliness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. 2020;66(6):525-527.
• ACOG. (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19), pregnancy, and breastfeeding: a message for patients. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/coronavirus-covid-19-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding. Accessed September 18, 2022.