Association between maternal anxiety and preterm delivery in Lima, Peru

Abstract

Introduction: preterm delivery is defined as delivery before 37 weeks of gestational age. Several triggering factors have been established, anxiety being one of them. Few studies on the subject have been conducted in Peru.
Objective: determine the association between maternal anxiety during the third trimester of pregnancy and preterm delivery.
Methods: a prospective cohort study was conducted at a public hospital in Lima, Peru, from January 2014 to January 2015. The study sample consisted of 247 pregnant women of 28-35 weeks of pregnancy. Evaluation was performed during prenatal visits. Perinatal data were obtained from the labor and delivery registry and the patients' medical records. The tool used to measure anxiety was the survey State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data were analyzed with STATA version 11,1.
Results: mean age of participants was 27 years; 68,1 % cohabitated with their partners, and 58 % had completed high school. Preterm delivery had an incidence of 11,6 %. Adjusted multivariate analysis revealed a relative risk of 1,23 (95 % CI 0,57-2,65) for state anxiety and ,.97 (95 % CI 0,45-2,06) for trait anxiety. Bivariate analysis found a significant association with preeclampsia.
Conclusion: anxiety during the third trimester of pregnancy was found to be a risk factor for preterm delivery. It is recommended to perform other longitudinal studies to more clearly determine the association between maternal anxiety and preterm delivery.