Were pregnant women more affected by COVID-19 in the second wave of the pandemic?
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kadiwar S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8046416 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Aims: Women face many sources of stress throughout their lives, and some periods are particularly sensitive; pregnancy is one of them. The COVID-19 pandemic is a likely source of additional stress for pregnant women. Moreover, there is evidence that pregnant women have experienced high levels of anxiety and depression symptoms during the pandemic. Our study aimed to evaluate the association of pregnancy-specific stress, pandemic-related stress, and coping strategies with anxiety, depressive and obsessive-compulsive symptomatology in Italian women during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2020-June 2021). We also investigated whether there were differences in these levels of psychopathology compared to a prior study conducted during the first pandemic wave (April-August 2020) in Italian pregnant women. Methods: We assessed 325 pregnant women receiving outpatient prenatal care, using the Revised Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (NuPDQ), Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS), the Revised Prenatal Coping Inventory (NuPCI), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) screening. The main analysis was conducted comparing multiple logistic regression models predicting each psychopathological outcome from specific covariates and NuPDQ, PREPS, and NuPCI scores. Results: 42.8% of the sample reported significant levels of anxiety, while 10.3% was positive on depression screening and 13.1% on OCD screening. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of high anxiety, depression, or OCD screening scores compared with the first pandemic wave. Controlling for covariates, we found that GAD-7 and PHQ-2 scores were predicted by pregnancy-specific stress; positive OCD screening was not. The model of high anxiety was improved by adding pandemic-related stress as a predictor (in particular, feeling unprepared for delivery and postpartum). Finally, coping strategies (avoidance, spiritual coping, and planning-preparation) significantly improved prediction of all three psychopathological outcomes. Conclusions: The present study suggests the importance of pregnancy-related stress, COVID-19 pandemic stress, and of coping strategies in counteracting or contributing to psychiatric symptomatology during the current pandemic.
| S-EPMC8775005 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The study aims to assess the impact of the second COVID-19 pandemic wave on migraine characteristics. This is an observational cross-sectional study conducted on migraine patients previously interviewed during the first Italian pandemic outbreak. A second structured telephone interview was conducted between 20 November 2020 and 18 January 2021. We compared migraine characteristics among T0 (before pandemic), T1 (during the first pandemic phase), and T2 (during the second pandemic phase). Among the 433 patients interviewed during the first pandemic phase, 304 cases were finally considered. One hundred forty-eight patients had a control visit between March 2020 and December 2020, 120 had an in-person visit, 14 by phone, the remainder used telemedicine software provided by the hospital. Frequency of headache, number of symptomatic drugs and headache intensity worsened during T2, compared to T0 and T1, especially in episodic migraine. Headache intensity increased relating to the negative emotional impact of the pandemic. Migraine management during the pandemic did not influence the clinical outcome. The prolongation of the pandemic seems to have a negative impact on migraine evolution. The arousal and negative psychological behavior toward the COVID-19 outbreak seem to worsen migraine.
| S-EPMC8070557 | biostudies-literature
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| S-EPMC8661807 | biostudies-literature
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| S-EPMC8164526 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeTo examine changes in lifestyle behaviors early in the COVID-19 pandemic among pregnant women.Materials and methodsA cross-sectional internet-based survey was completed by 706 pregnant women (mean age 29.6 years ± 3.2) residing in the United States in May 2020 to assess self-reported changes in diet, physical activity, and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic. Logistic regression analyses examined whether sociodemographic, clinical, and pandemic-related characteristics were associated with health behavior changes.ResultsApproximately 17% of women reported their diets worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, 42% reported improvements, and 41% reported no change. For physical activity, 22% reported they stopped being active, 2% reported they became active, and 76% reported no change. Nearly one-third of participants reported getting less sleep. The factors consistently associated with adverse lifestyle changes (worse diet, stopped being active, and reduced sleep) were experiences of pregnancy complications, loss of income due to COVID-19, and changes in social connections due to COVID-19.ConclusionsA substantial proportion of pregnant women reported adverse lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions during the pandemic to optimize health behaviors in pregnant women, especially among those with pregnancy complications, should address economic disadvantages and social support.
| S-EPMC7825911 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the well-being of vulnerable populations in the US, including Black people. The impact on pregnant women is of special concern for the intrauterine and post-natal development of their offspring. We evaluated in an online survey a sample of 913 pregnant women, 216 Black, 571 White, 126 Other, during a 2-week stay-at-home mandate in the Philadelphia region. We applied logistic regression models and analysis of covariance to examine general and pregnancy-specific worries and negative consequences arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and resilience. Black pregnant women reported greater likelihood of having their employment negatively impacted, more concerns about a lasting economic burden, and more worries about their prenatal care, birth experience, and post-natal needs. In the full sample, 11.1% of women met screening criteria for anxiety and 9.9% met criteria for depression. Black women were more likely to meet criteria for depression than White women, but this difference was not significant accounting for covariates. Resilience factors including self-reliance and emotion regulation were higher in Black women. Racial disparities related to COVID-19 in pregnant women can advance the understanding of pregnancy related stressors and improve early identification of mental health needs.
| S-EPMC7513921 | biostudies-literature
Project description:India has suffered from the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic since March 2021. This wave of the outbreak has been more serious than the first wave pandemic in 2020, which suggests that some new transmission characteristics may exist. COVID-19 is transmitted through droplets, aerosols, and contact with infected surfaces. Air pollutants are also considered to be associated with COVID-19 transmission. However, the roles of indoor transmission in the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of these factors in indoor environments are still poorly understood. Our study focused on reveal the role of indoor transmission in the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India. Our results indicated that human mobility in the home environment had the highest relative influence on COVID-19 daily growth rate in the country. The COVID-19 daily growth rate was significantly positively correlated with the residential percent rate in most state-level areas in India. A significant positive nonlinear relationship was found when the residential percent ratio ranged from 100 to 120%. Further, epidemic dynamics modelling indicated that a higher proportion of indoor transmission in the home environment was able to intensify the severity of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India. Our findings suggested that more attention should be paid to the indoor transmission in home environment. The public health strategies to reduce indoor transmission such as ventilation and centralized isolation will be beneficial to the prevention and control of COVID-19.
| S-EPMC8401083 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Health care workers (HCWs) face a higher risk of infection, since they work at the front line of COVID-19 patients' management. Misinterpretations of current scientific evidence among HCWs may impact the delivery of appropriate care to COVID-19 patients and increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the hospital setting. Moreover, knowledge may affect HCWs perceptions depending on their broad beliefs and past experiences. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge and perceptions of HCWs regarding COVID-19 issues during the second wave of the pandemic. A cross-sectional survey, involving a printed questionnaire, was conducted from 21 October 2020 to 31 January 2021 in four tertiary care hospitals located at four distant geographical regions in Greece. In total, 294 HCWs participated in this study. The majority of HCWs provided precise responses regarding general knowledge, perceptions, and practices concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. However, responses on hand hygiene and antimicrobial use in HCWs with COVID-19 were mistaken. This study reveals a certain degree of misconceptions and knowledge gaps in HCWs everyday practice, especially regarding hand hygiene and antimicrobial use in COVID-19 patients.
| S-EPMC8293362 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Several studies have reported the susceptibility of pregnant women to emotional instability and stress. Thus, pregnancy may be a risk factor that could deepen the already negative effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze longitudinally the psychopathological consequences of the pandemic in pregnant women, and to explore differences with non-pregnant women. The participants in this study were 102 pregnant women, and a control group of 102 non-pregnant women (most of them reported having university studies and little financial impact from the pandemic). They completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, in three different times (2, 14, and 47 days after the start of the lockdown). In a time range of 50 days of quarantine, all women showed a gradual increase in psychopathological indicators and a decrease in positive affect. Pregnant women showed a more pronounced increase in depression, anxiety and negative affect than the non-pregnant women did. In addition, pregnant women showed a more pronounced decrease in positive affect. It is important for institutions dedicated to perinatal health care to count on empirical information to optimize the provision of their services.
| S-EPMC7657008 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveWe sought to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pregnancy, delivery and postpartum experiences of women with histories of psychiatric disorders.MethodWomen already enrolled in a United States registry which prospectively studies the relationship between the use of psychiatric medications during pregnancy and major congenital malformations were invited to participate in this study. Subjects were asked about their experiences across the pandemic through interviews during pregnancy and the postpartum period and through an emailed questionnaire. Data were collected between May 2020 and February 2021.ResultsInterview and email questionnaire data were collected from 488 individuals. Most participants reported disruption, or planned changes, to their perinatal care due to the pandemic. Women expressed concerns about reduced postpartum support, and the reduction of positive social interactions and opportunities for family/friends to bond with the baby.ConclusionOur findings suggest that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the experiences of many pregnant women with pre-existing psychiatric disorders, particularly in relation to changes in care and perceived social support. Given that the risk of relapse of psychiatric disorders is already high in the postpartum period, it is important to identify what factors cause most distress for this at-risk population.
| S-EPMC8580321 | biostudies-literature