Association Between Serious Psychological Distress and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study with Pregnant Japanese Women

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of Study Participants

Characteristics	Total	K6 ≥ 13	K6 < 13	p-value
Number (%)	1022 (100)	169 (16.5)	853 (83.5)
Age (years), mean ± SD	31.7 ± 4.5	30.8 ± 0.3	31.8 ± 0.2	0.006^a,b
Gestational weeks (weeks), mean ± SD	25.9 ± 9.8	24.8 ± 0.8	26.1 ± 0.3	0.114^b
Number of births, n (%)
0	515 (50.4)	81 (47.9)	434 (50.9)	0.560^c
1	355 (34.7)	64 (37.9)	291 (34.1)
2	113 (11.1)	14 (8.3)	99 (11.6)
3	25 (2.5)	4 (2.4)	21 (2.5)
≥4	14 (1.3)	6 (3.5)	8 (0.9)
Number of abortions and miscarriages, n (%)
0	736 (72.0)	112 (66.3)	624 (73.2)	0.056^c
1	217 (21.2)	41 (24.3)	176 (20.6)
2	58 (5.7)	14 (8.3)	44 (5.2)
3	7 (0.7)	0	7 (0.8)
≥ 4	4 (0.4)	2 (1.2)	2 (0.2)
Fertility treatment, n (%)
Yes	203 (19.9)	28 (16.6)	175 (20.5)	0.232^d
No	819 (80.1)	141 (83.4)	678 (79.5)
Employment, n (%)
Yes	737 (72.1)	102 (60.4)	635 (74.4)	0.0003^a,d
No	285 (27.9)	67 (39.6)	218 (25.6)
Income level, n (%)
≥ 3 million yen/year	930 (90.9)	145 (85.8)	785 (92.0)	0.015^a,d
< 3 million yen/year	92 (9.1)	24 (14.2)	68 (8.0)
FCV-19S, mean ± SD		20.4 ± 5.0	17.5 ± 4.5	< 0.001^a,b
R-UCLA, mean ± SD		6.0 ± 1.7	4.6 ± 1.6	< 0.001^a,b

Notes: ^ap < 0.05; ^bStudent’s t-test; ^cWilcoxon signed-rank test; ^dPearson’s chi-square test.

Abbreviations: K6, 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; SD, standard deviation; FCV-19S, Fear of COVID-19 Scale; R-UCLA, 3-item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale.

Figure 1 Flow chart of the study.

Table 2 Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis of Risk Factors for SPD

Risk Factor	OR	95% CI	p-value
Younger age (years)	1.05	1.01–1.10	0.020^a
Gestational period (weeks)	0.99	0.97–1.01	0.228
Multiparous	0.92	0.62–1.36	0.662
Abortions or miscarriages	1.56	1.04–2.36	0.034^a
Fertility treatment	0.83	0.50–1.38	0.469
Unemployed	1.67	1.14–2.45	0.008^a
Family income < 3 million yen/year	1.51	0.86–2.64	0.147
R-UCLA total score	1.53	1.38–1.70	< 0.001^a
FCV-19S total score	1.12	1.08–1.17	<0.001^a

Notes: ^ap < 0.05.

Abbreviations: SPD, serious psychological distress; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; R-UCLA, 3-item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale; FCV-19S, Fear of COVID-19 Scale.