Prevalence of anxiety symptoms and depression in the third gestational trimester.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the prevalence of anxiety and gestational depression and to determine the risk factors associated to its development.

METHOD:

Pregnant women during their third quarter of pregnancy were invited to participate to the study, and they signed an informed consent form. After that, they filled in a general assessment questionnaire in which socio-economical and obstetrical characteristics together with general health conditions and behaviors harmful for the pregnancy were evaluated. To determine the anxiety symptoms a STAI A-trait scale and a STAI-A-state scale were used and to measure the depression a CES-D scale was used. A data logistic regression was realized to determine significant associations. The significance level adopted was 0.05 for all statistical tests.

RESULTS:

The final sample was represented by 207 pregnant women and the prevalence of depression was the highest value (73.5%), followed by state anxiety (58.5%) and finally by trait anxiety (53.2%). Only trait anxiety was explained by the variables studied and it was associated to the realization of a treatment for chronic diseases (OR = 2.93; IC = 1.02-8.41; p = 0.045) and the usage of continuous prescription drugs (OR = 2.30; IC = 1.06-4.97; p = 0.034).

CONCLUSIONS:

The prevalence of anxiety and depression among pregnant women were both high and only trait anxiety was explained by treatment for chronic diseases and the usage of continuous prescription drugs.

• Authors: Caroline Ronchini Ferreira, Mayara Carolina Orsini, Camilla Ribeiro Vieira, Andrea Mollica do Amarante Paffaro, Roberta Ribeiro Silva
• Journal: Archives of gynecology and obstetrics (Arch Gynecol Obstet) Vol. 291 Issue 5 Pg. 999-1003 (May 2015) ISSN: 1432-0711 [Electronic] Germany
• PMID: 25311200 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Adult
• Anxiety (epidemiology)
• Anxiety Disorders (epidemiology)
• Brazil (epidemiology)
• Depression (epidemiology)
• Depressive Disorder (epidemiology)
• Female
• Humans
• Pregnancy
• Pregnancy Complications (epidemiology, psychology)
• Pregnancy Trimester, Third
• Pregnant Women (psychology)
• Prevalence
• Risk Factors
• Socioeconomic Factors
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Young Adult