Abstract
Objective: Higher rates of mental disorders, specifically depression, were found among affected people in previous epidemiological studies taken after disasters. The aim of the current study was to assess risk for depression among pregnant women hospitalized during the “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19) pandemic, as compared to women hospitalized before the COVID-19 pandemic. Study design: A cross-sectional study was performed among women hospitalized in the high-risk pregnancy units of the Soroka University Medical Center (SUMC). All participating women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and the results were compared between women hospitalized during the COVID-19 strict isolation period (19 March 2020 and 26 May 2020) and women hospitalized before the COVID-19 pandemic. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to control for potential confounders. Results: Women hospitalized during the COVID-19 strict isolation period (n = 84) had a comparable risk of having a high (>10) EPDS score as compared to women hospitalized before the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 279; 25.0% vs. 29.0%, p = 0.498). These results remained similar in the multivariable logistic regression model, while controlling for maternal age, ethnicity and known mood disorder (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.0, 95% CI 0.52–1.93, p = 0.985). Conclusion: Women hospitalized at the high-risk pregnancy unit during the COVID-19 strict isolation period were not at increased risk for depression, as compared to women hospitalized before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The “coronavirus disease” (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), was first isolated in January 2020, after a series of respiratory infections of unknown etiology were detected in China [1,2].SARS-COV-2 was first diagnosed in Israel on 21 February 2020, among Israelis returning from abroad or from those who came in contact with infected tourists
A total of 369 women were included in the study: 90 women who were hospitalized in the high-risk pregnancy units during the COVID-19 pandemic strict isolation period, and 279 women before the COVID-19 pandemic
Women hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic had a comparable risk of having depression, expressed by a high (≥10) Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score, compared to women hospitalized before the COVID-19 pandemic (25.0% vs. 29.0%, p = 0.498)
Summary
SARS-COV-2 was first diagnosed in Israel on 21 February 2020, among Israelis returning from abroad or from those who came in contact with infected tourists. In Italy at the same day there were 41,035 cases, with a daily rise of 14.9%, and in Spain, 3431 cases, with a daily rise of 35.19% [3]. The Israeli Ministry of Health recommended soon after that all citizens returning from Eastern countries, and later on, from all other countries, stay in quarantine for two weeks following their return, in order to minimize the contagion. Since March 2020, using satellite information and cellular phone location, the Israeli Ministry of Health sent automated text messages to individuals identified as being close to positively diagnosed citizens, informing them that they should stay in quarantine and contact a health care provider in the case that any symptom develops
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