Assessing the level of Coronavirus Disease Anxiety and its related factors in third-trimester pregnant women referring to the health centers of Isfahan during the pandemic

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy as a sensitive period of a woman's life can be affected by various psychological factors. Covid-19 pandemic is a new phenomenon; and there is limited information about its psychological consequences such as the Coronavirus disease anxiety in these women. So, the present study aimed to determine the level of Covid-19 anxiety in the third trimester of pregnancy and its related factors. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 215 pregnant women with 28-33 weeks of gestational age were studied. The samples were selected from the health centers and hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, by cluster sampling. A questionnaire of Demographic, fertility and Coronavirus-related factors as well as the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (including psychological and physical components) were completed by the mothers in person. The data was analyzed by SPSS-24 software using One-way analysis of variance, independent t-test, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, Pearson and Spearman correlation tests. Result: The results showed that the mean score of Corona disease anxiety in pregnant women was 11.45 +/- 7.56. Anxiety was reported to be low in 62.8 of pregnant women, moderate in 32.6 and high in 4.6. The mean score of the psychological component (8.40 +/- 4.78) was higher than the score of the physical component (3.06 +/- 3.59). Working women, women with client-related occupations, and those having a working husband had lower anxiety scores. Factors such as death of family members due to Coronavirus disease and higher gestational age were associated with a significant increase in Corona anxiety score. Conclusion: Considering that death of a family member due to Coronavirus disease and higher gestational age are associated with higher Coronavirus disease anxiety, the results of this study can be used to identify high-risk pregnant women and suggest early psychological interventions for preventing pregnancy anxiety complications.