Maternal anxiety at amniocentesis and plasma cortisol

To assess whether anticipation of amniocentesis is linked with maternal anxiety, and whether this anxiety is associated with increased maternal plasma cortisol.

Two hundred and fifty-four women awaiting a morning amniocentesis for karyotyping (gestation range 15-37 weeks, median 17 weeks) completed Spielberger state and trait anxiety inventory (STAI) questionnaires, and provided blood samples immediately before the procedure for cortisol assay. Six hundred and five women at mean gestation of 20 weeks, attending the same hospital for routine ultrasound but not for amniocentesis, also completed Spielberger STAI questionnaires and served as a comparison group for the anxiety ratings.

Mean state and trait anxiety scores (+/- SD) in the comparison group of 605 women at mean gestation of 20 weeks were 36.1 +/- 10.2 (range 20-70) and 35.6 +/- 8.9 (range 20-73), respectively. The mean state anxiety score (+/-SD) of 49.8 +/- 14.0 (range 20-77) of the amniocentesis group was considerably higher than the comparison group (p < 0.001), although the mean trait anxiety score in the amniocentesis group was similar at 36.4 +/- 8.6 (range 21-60). The state, but not trait, anxiety correlated with plasma cortisol (r = 0.176, p = 0.005). Maternal cortisol in the amniocentesis group increased with gestational age (r = 0.310, p < 0.001), whereas state anxiety scores showed no significant change with increase in gestational age (r = - 0.042, ns). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that maternal state anxiety was positively correlated with plasma cortisol independent of gestation and time of collection.

Women awaiting amniocentesis experience a high state anxiety associated with modestly increased plasma cortisol.