Study on mental health status of pregnant women and its influencing factors in the third trimester

Abstract

Objective: To understand the mental health status of pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy, and explore the influencing factors. Methods: The general demographic information and pregnancy information of 575 pregnant women in the Chinese Pregnant Women Cohort Study were collected. The mental health status of pregnant women in the third trimester was investigated by using Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and University of California at Los Angeles. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors for mental health of pregnant women. Results: In the third trimester of pregnancy, the incidence of depression was 16.52%, the incidence of anxiety was 11.13%, and the incidence of feeling loneliness was 26.26%. Logistic regression analysis showed that compared with those with education level of junior high school below, those with education level of college or bachelor's degree (OR=0.418, 95%CI: 0.184-0.950) and master's degree or above (OR=0.116, 95%CI: 0.027-0.503) were less likely to feel loneliness. Pregnant women with higher annual family income (10 000 RMB yuan) were less likely to suffer from depression (≥20 vs. <10: OR=0.527, 95%CI: 0.279-0.998), anxiety (10-20 vs. <10: OR=0.363, 95%CI: 0.180-0.731; ≥20 vs. <10: OR=0.271, 95%CI: 0.132-0.554) and feeling loneliness (≥20 vs. <10: OR=0.477, 95%CI: 0.276-0.826). Conclusions: The education level and family income have impacts on the mental health status of pregnant women in the third trimester. Medical staff should give targeted psychological advice to pregnant women to improve their mental health status.