Comorbid anxiety and depression: Prevalence and associated factors among pregnant women in Arba Minch zuria district, Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction Prenatal anxiety and depression are major health problems all over the world. The negative sequela of prenatal comorbid anxiety and depression (CAD) has been suggested to be higher than that of anxiety or depression alone. CAD increases the odds of preterm birth, low birth weight, prolonged labor, operative deliveries, postpartum psychiatric disorders and long term cognitive impairment for the newborn. Despite its significant ill consequences, there is a dearth of studies in low-and middle-income countries. So far, to the best of our knowledge, no study assessed the prevalence of CAD in Ethiopia. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess CAD and associated factors among pregnant women in Arba Minch Zuria district, Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 676 pregnant women from January 01 to November 30, 2019. Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scales were used to assess depression and anxiety respectively. The data were collected electronically using an open data kit (ODK) collect android application and analyzed using Stata version 15.0. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were carried out to identify factors associated with CAD using binary logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. Results A total of 667 women were involved. The prevalence of CAD was 10.04% [95% confidence interval (CI): 7.76, 12.33]. Being married [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.16, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.56], categorized in the highest wealth quintile [AOR: 2.83, 95% CI: 1.17, 6.84], having medical illness [AOR: 3.56, 95% CI: 1.68, 7.54], encountering pregnancy danger signs [AOR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.06, 6.67], experiencing life-threatening events [AOR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.15, 3.92] and household food insecurity [AOR: 3.51, 95% CI: 1.85, 6.64] were significantly associated with CAD. Conclusions In general, one in every ten women faced CAD in the study area. Nutritional interventions, early identification and treatment of pregnancy-related illness and medical ailments, prenatal mental health problems screening and interventions are imperative to minimize the risk of CAD in pregnant women.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women During COVID-19 at Public Health Facilities of East Gojjam Zone, 2020: A Multi-Center Cross-Sectional Study

“…The finding of the current study was relatively higher than previous studies conducted in Ethiopia during the COVID-19 pandemic (32.2%) (9), Nigeria (37.5%) (28), and China (36.77%) (29). The finding is significantly higher than studies from the Southern Ethiopia (10.04%) (26), South Africa (23%) (18), Tanzanian (25%) (30), China (6.8%) (31), and (11.18%) (27), Pakistan (20.4%) (32), Iran (21%) (15), Brazil (26.8%) (19), and Indonesia (29%) (33). On the other hand, the finding of the current study was lower than studies in Taiwan (52.1%) (34), India (55.7%) (35), Canada (57%) (8), and Turkey (64.5%) (36).…”

“…The current study reported that 43.7% of pregnant women experienced GAD during the COVID pandemic. The finding is higher than a study in Ethiopia (10.4%) done before the COVID-19 pandemic era ( 26 ). This is due to the unique stressor COVID-19 pandemic ( 8 ) is associated with an increased prevalence of anxiety in pregnant women during the pandemic ( 16 ).…”

Generalized anxiety disorder among mothers attending perinatal services during COVID-19 pandemic: using ordinal logistic regression model

“…This is supported by a previous study [ 17 ], which reported that peoples with chronic illness have a higher likelihood of experiencing anxiety disorder than others. Moreover, another study reported that chronic illness had a significant effect on comorbid anxiety disorder [ 58 ]. Literature supported that having a chronic illness, as well as misusing addictive substances, can increase the likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder.…”

Intimate partner violence among reproductive-age women in central Gondar zone, Northwest, Ethiopia: a population-based study

“…A HFIAS rating levels a range from 0 to 27. In this study, household food security status categorized into two as “food secure” when the individual didn’t experience food inaccessibility conditions in the past 4 weeks and “food insecure” when individuals had unable to access enough food for necessary day to day activities [ 29 , 30 ].…”

“…Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST) scale derived from the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) by Hodgson et al, 2002.; was used to measure harmful drinking, FAST has 4 items with a rating score from a range of 0 to 16, where in a rating of > 3 shows harmful drinking [ 30 , 33 ].…”