The COVID-19 pandemic impact on prenatal anxiety

Abstract

Introduction Anxiety manifestations are one of the most described symptoms during pregnancy. Meanwhile, the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health and anxiety distress in particular, of pregnant and postpartum women remains unclear. Objectives The purpose of our study was to evaluate anxiety among prgnant women during covid19 and describe its associated factors Methods It was a comparative cross-sectional case- control study in a Tunisian gynecologic department. All women were in the third term of pregnancy. Anxiety symptoms were evaluated using Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The data were compared to a control group assessed in a similar study conducted before the pandemic in the same city. Eighty pregnant women was investigated during the covid pandemic and 100 pregnant women investigated before the COVID-19 outbreak in Tunisia was assigned to the control group. Results Pregnant women during COVID-19 scored less on BAI than controls (15.49±9.223 vs 17.40±7.410). Less patients presented moderate to severe anxiety during pandemic (38.8% (n=31) than controls 51% (n=51)). The difference between groups in means and prevalence values was not significant. The negative results could be related to the low power of the test (P=0.36). Conclusions Despite the expected psychological distress among vulnerable population , Covid-19 didn’t impact anxiety prevalence or scores among pregnant women in our current study . Disclosure No significant relationships.

Keywords

• Pregnancy
• Anxiety
• Covid-19