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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
Published on: June 13, 2021
A 1-year longitudinal study of psychological morbidity after miscarriage
Ingrid Hung Lok1, Alexander Shing-Kai Yip, Dominic Tak-Sing Lee
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Prince of Wales Hospital, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. ingridlok@cuhk.edu.hk
Objective:
To examine the 1-year longitudinal course of psychological outcomes after miscarriage.
Design:
Longitudinal observational study.
Setting:
University-affiliated teaching hospital.
Patient(S):
280 miscarrying women and 150 nonpregnant women.
Intervention(S):
Psychological outcomes were assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) immediately, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after miscarriage.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Scores on GHQ-12 and BDI.
Result(S):
Half (55%) of the miscarrying women scored high (>or=4) on the GHQ-12 immediately, 25% at 3 months; 17.8% at 6 months, and 10.8% at 1 year after miscarriage; 26.8% of the patients scored high on the BDI (>or=12) immediately, 18.4% at 3 months, 16.4% at 6 months, and 9.3% at 1 year after miscarriage. Patients who were initially more distressed continued to score higher on both the GHQ-12 and the BDI along the 1-year course when compared with those who were initially less distressed. When compared with the nonpregnant controls, the miscarrying women scored statistically significantly higher on the GHQ-12 and BDI; the differences became not statistically significant only 1 year after miscarriage.
Conclusion(S):
A statistically significant proportion of patients reported psychological morbidity shortly after miscarriage, but their level of distress reduced over time until they were comparable with the controls 1 year later. Patients who were initially more distressed continued to be throughout the 1-year course.
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