Objective
To assess risk factors for anxiety and depression among pregnant women during the COVID‐19 pandemic using Mind‐COVID, a prospective cross‐sectional study that compares outcomes in middle‐income economies and high‐income economies.
Methods
A total of 7102 pregnant women from 12 high‐income economies and nine middle‐income economies were included. The web‐based survey used two standardized instruments, General Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7) and Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ‐9).
Result
Pregnant women in high‐income economies reported higher PHQ‐9 (0.18 standard deviation [SD],
P
< 0.001) and GAD‐7 (0.08 SD,
P
= 0.005) scores than those living in middle‐income economies. Multivariate regression analysis showed that increasing PHQ‐9 and GAD‐7 scales were associated with mental health problems during pregnancy and the need for psychiatric treatment before pregnancy. PHQ‐9 was associated with a feeling of burden related to restrictions in social distancing, and access to leisure activities. GAD‐7 scores were associated with a pregnancy‐related complication, fear of adverse outcomes in children related to COVID‐19, and feeling of burden related to finances.
Conclusions
According to this study, the imposed public health measures and hospital restrictions have left pregnant women more vulnerable during these difficult times. Adequate partner and family support during pregnancy and childbirth can be one of the most important protective factors against anxiety and depression, regardless of national economic status.
options, and a child's life course following the surgery. The case managing nurse was responsible for contacting parents, timely prenatal consultation, and providing comfort and support. If the parents struggled with the decision regarding pregnancy continuation, the case manager was active in following-up. To ensure no additional psychological harm was caused to parents, consultations were worded with tact, and instead of pushing for pregnancy continuation, the main aim was to ensure they had access to sufficient information to make an informed decision, and to support parents in their choice. Analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the OFC cases. Frequency was described by count (n) and percentage (%). A comparison between case characteristics and the decision to use consultation services, as well as a comparison between consultation services and the decision of whether to continue with pregnancy was performed. Due to some cells having a small count of less than n = 5, a Fisher's Exact Test (X 2) test of independence was performed. An a priori cutoff of significance was set at p < 0.05. All analyses were performed using R (RStudio Team (2019). RStudio: Integrated Development for R. RStudio, Inc., Boston, MA. URL https ://www.rstud io.com/).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.