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Abstract
BackgroundCumulative evidence suggests that early identification of anxiety in pregnancy is important, given that antenatal anxiety has been linked to morbid outcomes in expecting mothers and their offspring. However, the burden of antenatal anxiety is not yet known in Qatar. This research aims to measure the prevalence and determinants of generalized and pregnancy-related anxiety among pregnant women. MethodsEight hundred pregnant women completed a structured interview and self-administrated questionnaires after being selected through probability sampling from nine primary healthcare centers distributed across Qatar. We subjected the data to Binary and Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis. Furthermore, we conducted a Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the utilized scales. ResultsOut of eight hundred participants, 26.5% reported high pregnancy-related anxiety, while 16.4% had a generalized anxiety disorder. A high level of perceived social support and resilience was shown to mitigate generalized and pregnancy-related anxiety. However, we revealed that different determinants influence the two types of anxiety. LimitationsThere is no recognized optimal cut-off point to distinguish ‘high risk’ in pregnancy-related anxiety scales. ConclusionsPregnancy-related anxiety is more prevalent than generalized anxiety among pregnant women in Qatar, indicating that stakeholders must include screening for pregnancy-related anxiety in Qatar's clinical guidelines. Tailored interventional studies could focus on increasing resilience and social support to decrease the burden of antenatal anxiety.
Highlights
Antenatal anxiety disorders are common (Falah-Hassani et al, 2017), and are significantly higher in pregnancy than the non-pregnant population (39% versus 16%) (Adewuya et al, 2006)
Procedure After screening for eligibility criteria and signing the consent form, we interviewed the participants about their clinical history, including mental and medical history, in addition to pregnancy-related and sociodemographic characteristics
The results showed that the prevalence of pregnancyrelated anxiety in Qatar (n 1⁄4 213, 26.6%) is higher than the prevalence of generalized anxiety(n 1⁄4 131,16.4%)
Summary
Antenatal anxiety disorders are common (Falah-Hassani et al, 2017), and are significantly higher in pregnancy than the non-pregnant population (39% versus 16%) (Adewuya et al, 2006). Anxiety negatively affects the expecting mothers and their offspring, increases the odds of preterm delivery, and cultivates neurodevelopmental disorders (Rose et al, 2016). These adverse effects led to changes in the guidelines recommending early detection of antenatal anxiety (NICE., 2014; SIGN., 2012). A meta-analysis published in 2019 showed that antenatal anxiety disorders affect 20.7% of pregnant women; Confidence Interval CI [16.7%–25.4%]. This research aims to measure the prevalence and determinants of generalized and pregnancy-related anxiety among pregnant women. A high level of perceived social support and resilience was shown to mitigate generalized and pregnancy-related anxiety. Tailored interventional studies could focus on increasing resilience and social support to decrease the burden of antenatal anxiety
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