Abstract
BackgroundPrenatal anxiety has been a significant public health issue globally, leading to adverse health outcomes for mothers and children. The study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP), and anxiety level of pregnant women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in Wuhan and investigate the influencing factors for prenatal anxiety in this specific context.MethodsPregnant subjects’ KAP towards COVID-19 and their sociodemographics and pregnancy information were collected using questionnaires. The Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) was used to assess anxiety status. Factors associated with the level of prenatal anxiety were analyzed by Pearson’s chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression analyses.ResultsThe prenatal anxiety prevalence in this population was 20.8%. The mean score of knowledge was 13.2 ± 1.1 on a 0 ~ 14 scale. The attitudes and practices data showed that 580/ 817 (71.0%) were very concerned about the news of COVID-19, 455/817 (55.7%) considered the official media to be the most reliable information source for COVID-19, and 681/817 (83.4%) were anxious about the possibility of being infected by COVID-19. However, only 83/817 (10.2%) worried about contracting COVID-19 infection through the ultrasound transducer during a routing morphology scan. About two-thirds 528/817 (64.6%) delayed or canceled the antenatal visits. Approximately half of them 410/817 (50.2%) used two kinds of personal protection equipments (PPEs) during hospital visits. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the influential factors for prenatal anxiety included previous children in the family, knowledge score, media trust, worry of contracting the COVID-19 infection and worry about getting infected with COVID-19 from the ultrasound probe antenatal care (ANC) schedule.ConclusionPrenatal anxiety was prevalent among pregnant women in Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID-19. The current findings identified factors associated with the level of prenatal anxiety that could be targeted for psychological care.
Highlights
Prenatal anxiety has been a significant public health issue globally, leading to adverse health outcomes for mothers and children
Prenatal anxiety was prevalent among pregnant women in Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID-19
The current findings identified factors associated with the level of prenatal anxiety that could be targeted for psychological care
Summary
Prenatal anxiety has been a significant public health issue globally, leading to adverse health outcomes for mothers and children. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, a new humaninfecting betacoronavirus different from SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV [3]. It is spread through respiratory droplets and direct contact [4]. There are only a few cases of pregnant women with COVID-19 It remains unclear whether intrauterine infection can be caused by vertical transmission in women who contract COVID-19 during pregnancy [5,6,7]. Limited data suggest that pregnant women with a confirmed COVID-19 infection were similar to their non-pregnant counterparts in the general population with relatively optimistic clinical outcomes [8, 9]. Most research has mainly focused on the therapeutic aspects, while pregnant women’s mental health status during the COVID-19 is much less studied
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
