Twenty-nine percent of women met criteria for posttraumatic stress one month after pregnancy loss
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Many women meet the criteria for posttraumatic stress and have moderate/severe anxiety and moderate/severe depression one month after early pregnancy loss, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Jessica Farren, Ph.D., from Imperial College London, and colleagues examined the levels of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety in women after early pregnancy loss. A total of 737 women with early pregnancy loss (including 537 miscarriages and 116 ectopic pregnancies) and 171 control women agreed to participate.
The researchers found that the criteria for posttraumatic stress were met by 29 and 18 percent of women with early pregnancy loss after one and nine months, respectively (odds ratio per month, 0.80; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.72 to 0.89). Moderate/severe anxiety was reported in 24 and 17 percent after one and nine months, respectively (odds ratio per month, 0.69; 95 percent CI, 0.50 to 0.94). Moderate/severe depression was reported by 11 and 6 percent of the women after one and nine months, respectively (odds ratio per month, 0.87; 95 percent CI, 0.53 to 1.44). After miscarriage, the proportions for posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression were 16, 17, and 5 percent, respectively, after nine months. For ectopic pregnancy, the corresponding figures were 21, 23, and 11 percent, respectively.
“Our clinical management must be more sensitive to the psychologic implications of early pregnancy loss,” the authors write.
Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
