Prevalence and Associated Factors of Stress in Pregnancy
Abstract
Background and Objective: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended to screen psychosocial stress during pregnancy. In Thailand, the ST-5 self-reported screening stress questionnaire was widely used in the general population because of simple to understand and easy to complete. However, no previous study had assessed the reliability and validity of the ST-5 questionnaire when used with pregnancy. The primary objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of stress in pregnancy. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the associated factors of stress and investigate the correlation between the ST-5 and Thai GHQ-28 questionnaires.
Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University. The ST-5 and Thai GHQ-28 questionnaires were completed by pregnant women. Total scores greater than 4 of ST-5 questionnaires and more than 5 of Thai GHQ-28 questionnaires were considered for screening stress positive.
Results: Three hundred and fifty-one pregnancies were recruited. The prevalence of stress using the Thai GHQ-28 questionnaire was 13.64%. The ST-5 questionnaire showed good internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha (α) 0.824 but low convergent validity compared with the Thai GHQ-28 questionnaire, rs 0.426 (95%CI 0.337-0.508, p < 0.001). Factors including a history of obstetric complications comorbidity, alcohol consumption and the occurrence of family members with psychiatric disorders significantly increased stress with adjusted OR 2.51 (95%CI 1.04-6.08, p = 0.040), 2.90 (95%CI 1.34-6.28, p = 0.007) and 12.19 (95%CI 2.10-70.75, p = 0.005), respectively.
Conclusion: Prevalence of stress in pregnancy was 13.64%. The ST-5 questionnaire gave a low correlation with the Thai GHQ-28 questionnaire. History of obstetric complication comorbidities, alcohol consumption or family members with psychiatric disorders were significantly increased risk of stress.
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