Depression Among Portuguese Pregnant Women During Covid-19 Lockdown: A Cross Sectional Study.

MENTAL depression risk factors; ATTITUDES of mothers; SOCIAL support; CROSS-sectional method; INTERNET; SELF-evaluation; PREGNANT women; QUANTITATIVE research; FISHER exact test; REGRESSION analysis; RISK assessment; PSYCHOLOGICAL tests; T-test (Statistics); ATTITUDES toward illness; PREGNANCY complications; QUESTIONNAIRES; SCALE analysis (Psychology); DESCRIPTIVE statistics; CHI-squared test; STAY-at-home orders; LOGISTIC regression analysis; DATA analysis software; SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors; COVID-19 pandemic; EDINBURGH Postnatal Depression Scale; DISEASE risk factors

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 was declared as a pandemic on March 2020. Research on its psychological effects is still lacking. Perinatal depression is a medical complication of pregnancy, especially in situations of stress. In this study, we aimed to investigate the presence of symptoms of depression in pregnant women during the lockdown period in Portugal. Methods: This study consisted in a cross-sectional study among Portuguese pregnant women, who completed an online self-report questionnaire between 25th April and 30th April 2020. An anonymous online questionnaire was developed to assess depression and concerns related to COVID-19. This study was approved by the IRB of Hospital Dona Estefânia and performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. Eligibility criteria included pregnant women, ≥ 18 years and living in Portugal. The primary outcome was to evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms and its association to socio-demographic characteristics and to concerns related to COVID-19. Results: A total of 1698 pregnant women were enrolled. The mean age was 31.9 years. 82.4% felt a negative impact of the pandemic in the surveillance of pregnancy and 43% felt insufficient support. 26.3% showed "possible depression" according to the EPDS. A regression analysis revealed the possibility of depression increased as the concerns about COVID increased and was lower for women with support. The possibility of depression was higher for women with psychiatric medical history. Conclusion: This study demonstrated a significant increase in clinically significant depressive symptoms in pregnant women during the lockdown. It also revealed some of the socio-demographic characteristics of women at risk for depression. If left untreated, depression tends to persist, affecting the woman and also the child. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 represents a serious challenge for this population and reinforce the urgent need for early detection and intervention on mental health issues during pregnancy, especially during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Maternal & Child Health Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)