Abstract
Background
Anxiety and depression during the antenatal period is a growing problem with major effects on the mother, the developing fetus, and the neonate.
Objectives
To assess the prevalence of anxiety and depression during pregnancy in women attending the hospital for antenatal care and assess the associated factors.
Methods
This is a prospective cohort study conducted in the University Hospital of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. Anxiety was evaluated using State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Depression was assessed using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).
Results
Complete data were available for 575 women. The mean EPDS score was 10.5 (SD 5.5). The prevalence of depression was 26.8%. The mean state-anxiety score was 38.4 (SD 11.4) and mean trait-anxiety score was 38.2 (SD 9.5). The prevalence of anxiety using state-anxiety scale was 23.6%, while using the trait scale it was 23.9%. The risk is higher among unemployed women with history of miscarriage and unplanned pregnancy.
Conclusion
Anxiety and depression are common during pregnancy.
Keywords:
Acknowledgments
We thank all the ladies who shared the most intimate and private details of their life with us to improve our understanding of this problem. Our sincere thanks go to all our medical students and student interns who spent a great deal of their valuable time to help us collect the data. A poster abstract was sent to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Congress, June 20–22, 2016, UK.
Author contributions
AA and NHQ conceived and designed the study. All authors implemented the study and supervised data collection. NHQ was responsible for database management and analysis. AA and NHQ supervised the analysis process, interpreted the findings, and drafted the manuscript. All authors contributed toward data analysis, drafting and revising the paper and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.