The Relationship Between Sociodemographic Variables and Depressive Symptoms in Uncomplicated Pregnant Women at Term

Abstract

Gebelik, kadın hayatında önemli biyolojik, psikolojik ve sosyal değişikliklerin yaşanabildiği bir dönemdir.Kanda insan koryonik gonadotropini hormonunun beta alt birimi (β-hCG) düzeyinin pozitifleşmesi ile başlayan ve ilerleyen biyolojik ve fizyolojik değişiklikler, doğum itibariyle gerilemeye başlar ve doğum aBSTracT The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sociodemographic variables and depressive symptoms in uncomplicated pregnant women at term. Four hundred-seventeen pregnant patients at term who attended to antenatal outpatient clinic without significant risk factors were recruited for the application of questionnaire survey, and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The cut-off point of the scale was evaluated as 17. Accordingly, the patients with BDI scores between 0 and 16 were classified in Group 1, while the other patients were categorized in Group 2. Educational level, occupation, husband's occupation, habitat, social security status, level of financial income, previous psychiatric illness in her or anyone in her family, smoking status, difficulty in arrival to a health center, family structure, migration status, social support provided from her family and close environment, the number of her marriages, the status of planned or unplanned pregnancy, the outcome of previous pregnancy, the use of vitamin pills in pregnancy, conceiving with a medical treatment (except in vitro fertilization), and number of parities were not significantly different between groups. The presence of anxiety for fetal health, unfavorable life experience, marital problems, history of premenstrual syndrome, the lower birth weights, and the absence of a civil marriage and regular antenatal visits in Group 2 were significantly more frequent than Group 1. As a conclusion; many individual variables of uncomplicated pregnants at term can induce the development of depressive symptoms. The early recognition of the risk factors that aggravate depressive mood of the pregnants may aid in taking measures aiming to improve maternal and neonatal heath state.