This pilot study examined the effectiveness of standard care and an empowerment intervention for abused pregnant women. Severe psychological abuse was most prevalent (42.2%) among this sample of women. Compared with women in the standard care group at the post-intervention survey, women in the empowerment group were more likely to hide money (44.6% vs. 34.3%), establish a code with family or friends (19.6% vs. 16.2%), ask neighbors to call police if violence began (6.9% vs. 1.0%), had available bank account numbers (17.1% vs. 3.1%), had valuable jewelry (8.4% vs. 3.8%), and had available a hidden bag with extra clothing (9.0% vs. 3.1%). However, there was no statistically significant difference in health-related quality of life, adoption of safety behaviors, and use of community resources between women in the two groups. Simply asking pregnant women about abuse and offering referral could potentially interrupt and prevent further abuse.

Our findings are consistent with a larger literature that documents elevated blood pressure and increased risks of hypertension with short and long sleep duration.

The findings indicate the need to include IPV screening and treatment in prenatal care and reproductive health settings.

This study assesses the prevalence, types, and pattern of intimate partner violence (IPV) during lifetime and current pregnancy for 2,392 women in Lima, Peru. The reported lifetime prevalence of any IPV (physical, sexual, or emotional) is 45.1%. For women who experienced abuse, the prevalence of lifetime physical, emotional, and sexual IPV is 34.2%, 28.4%, and 8.7%, respectively. Older (>/= 30 years), unmarried, employed, and economically disadvantaged women and those with little education are more likely to experience lifetime and pregnancy IPV. Efforts at universal antepartum IPV screening and appropriate interventions are needed to reduce the burden of violence experienced by pregnant women.

Maternal mood and anxiety disorders are associated with increased preeclampsia risk. These observations must be explored in larger pharmacoepidemiological studies that allow precise evaluations of independent and joint effects of maternal psychopathologies and the use of psychotropic medications on preeclampsia risk.

Summary We evaluated risks of preterm delivery and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy among pregnant women with mood and migraine disorders. We used data from a cohort study of 3,432 pregnant women. Maternal pre-gestational or early pregnancy (before 20 weeks gestational) mood disorder and pre-gestational migraine diagnoses were ascertained from in-person interview and medical record review. We fitted generalized linear models to derive risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of preterm delivery and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy for women with isolated mood, isolated migraine, and comorbid mood-migraine disorders, respectively. Reported RRs were adjusted for maternal age, race/ethnicity, marital status, parity, smoking status, chronic hypertension or pre-existing diabetes mellitus, and pre-pregnancy body mass index. Women without mood or migraine disorders were defined as the reference group. The risks for preterm delivery and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were more consistently elevated among women with comorbid mood-migraine disorders than among women with isolated mood or migraine disorder. Women with comorbid disorders were almost twice as likely to deliver preterm (adjusted RR=1.87, 95% CI 1.05–3.34) compared with the referent group. There was no clear evidence of increased risks of preterm delivery and its subtypes with isolated migraine disorder. Women with mood disorder had elevated risks of preeclampsia (adjusted RR=3.57, 95% CI 1.83–6.99). Our results suggest an association between isolated migraine disorder and pregnancy-induced hypertension (adjusted RR=1.42, 95% CI 1.00–2.01). This is the first study examining perinatal outcomes in women with comorbid mood-migraine disorders. Pregnant women with a history of migraine may benefit from depression screening during prenatal care, and vigilant monitoring, especially for women with comorbid mood-migraine disorders.

Objective We sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of two widely used screening scales: the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) among pregnant Peruvian women. Methods This cross-sectional study included 1,517 women receiving prenatal care from February 2012 to March 2013. A structured interview was used to collect data using PHQ-9 and EPDS. We examined reliability, construct and concurrent validity between two scales using internal consistency indices, factor structures, correlations, and Cohen’s kappa. Results Both scales had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.8). Correlation between PHQ-9 and EPDS scores was fair (rho=0.52). Based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA), both scales yielded a two-factor structure. EFA including all items from PHQ-9 and EPDS yielded four factors, namely, “somatization”, “depression and suicidal ideation”, “anxiety and depression”, and “anhedonia”. The agreement between the two scales was generally fair at different cutoff scores with the highest Cohen’s kappa being 0.46. Conclusions Both the PHQ-9 and EPDS are reliable and valid scales for antepartum depression assessment. The PHQ-9 captures somatic symptoms, while EPDS detects depressive symptoms comorbid with anxiety during early pregnancy. Our findings suggest simultaneous administration of both scales may improve identification of antepartum depressive disorders in clinical settings.

There is little information about the heart disease prevention behavior of Asian immigrants. Chinese are the largest Asian sub-group in the United States (US), and 69% of Chinese Americans are foreign-born. Our objective was to describe Chinese immigrants' heart disease prevention practices. A community-based, in-person survey of Chinese men and women was conducted in Seattle during 2005. Our study sample included 395 Chinese immigrants. Only 15% of the respondents consumed five or more servings of fruit/ vegetables per day, and less than one-third (31%) engaged in regular physical activity. Smoking rates were significantly higher among men (21%) than women (1%). About three-quarters (74%) of the study group had received a cholesterol test in the previous five years. Recent immigrants had higher levels of fruit/ vegetable consumption and physical activity than those who had been in the US for 10 years or more. Conversely, longer duration of US residence was positively associated with recent cholesterol testing. Heart disease prevention programs should be developed, implemented, and evaluated in Chinese immigrant populations. These efforts should specifically aim to increase fruit/ vegetable consumption and regular physical activity. Future efforts to increase cholesterol testing should focus on recent immigrants.