Personality Traits Predict Regression of Pelvic Girdle Pain after Pregnancy: A Longitudinal Follow-up Study.

Abstract

Background: Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) is a multifactorial condition with a partly unknown etiology. This condition can be mentally and physically compromising both during and after pregnancy. To provide all-round preventive measures to improve the recovery from PGP, it is of a necessity for obstetricians and orthopaedists to develop predictive studies about the worse prognosis for this condition. Therefore, this study aims to determine whether personality traits can predict the consequences of long-term pregnancy-related PGP.Methods: This was a prospective study conducted from January 2015 to August 2018. A total of 387 pregnant women were enrolled in this study. According to whether they had experienced PGP during the past four weeks, the subjects were classified into no PGP and PGP groups. Persistent PGP after the pregnancy was defined as a recurrent or continuous visual analog score (VAS) pain rating of ≥ 3 for more than one week. The Quick Big Five Personality Test (QBFPT) was used to assess personality traits. Data were obtained by mail or in the clinic. The authors collected data including age, BMI, educational level, annual household income, cesarean delivery, breastfeeding, unexpected sex of the baby, parity, sick leave, no or rare ability to take rest breaks at work, and LBP in the previous pregnancy. Results: Of 387 included women, 264 subjects experienced PGP during the pregnancy with the mean age of 26.3 ± 4.5 years. A total of 80 of 264 (30.3%) women experienced persistent PGP after the pregnancy. Persistent PGP after the pregnancy was associated with higher levels of neuroticism (OR= 2.12, P=0.001). Compared to persistent PGP after the pregnancy, women who reported higher levels of extraversion and conscientiousness were more likely to recover from this condition (OR=0.65, P = 0.001; OR= 0.82, P = 0.01, respectively). Besides, neuroticism was positively associated with higher pain scores (r=0.52, P=0.005). However, extraversion and conscientiousness domains showed negative correlations with pain score (r=-0.48, P=0.003; r=-0.36, P=0.001).Conclusions: Personality traits were significantly associated with the outcomes of PGP.

Risk factors for persistent pelvic girdle pain pregnancy-related (PPGP): a Systematic Review and meta-analysis approach

“…The 10 articles included in the systematic review are all prospective cohort studies. In 6 of the included studies the cohort was made up of pregnant women with PGP [28], [29], [24], [30], [25], [27] , in 1 of healthy pregnant women [23] , while in 3 both women with LPP and healthy [26], [54], [52]. .…”

“…In 6 out of 10 studies women were assessed both by questionnaire and by physical examination [28], [23], [30], [25], [27], [52] , in 4 studies only by questionnaire [29], [24], [26], [54] .…”

“…The primary outcome of all included studies is persistent PGP which is assessed as presence/absence in 3 out of 8 studies [24], [26], [28] , by VAS/NPRS in 6 studies [29], [30], [25], [27], [52], [54] a nd through NPRS and Mc…”

“…In 6 studies it covers beyond 6 months post-partum[ 28], [23], [29], [27], [52], [54] while in 1 up to 12 years [24] .…”

“…In our review only 5 studies rated as low ROB [25], [26], [23], [52], [54] and 1 rated as moderate ROB [30] consider psychosocial domains as risk factors for persistence and our analysis shows that the presence of emotional distress and depression in pregnancy are not associated with either pain or post-partum disability; although depressive symptoms are three times more frequent in women with LPP [26] , the study by Gausel, 2015 [25] cannot identify a cause-and-effect relationship. However, these results seem to contrast with the literature: Robinson, 2010 (a) [ 27 ] highlights that emotional distress in early pregnancy correlates with PGP in late pregnancy and Bakker in 2013 [32] ireports that Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) associated with Pregnancy Mobility Index (PMI) analyzed in early pregnancy are strong predictors of disability in late pregnancy; Wuytack,2018 [3] indicates a correlation between PGS and emotional distress, while Xiangsheng 2021 demonstrates an association between neurotic behaviors and persistence of PGP [52] .…”