For a study, the researchers looked at the incidence of prenatal depression and anxiety in women who were admitted to an antepartum ward for obstetric problems.
The study included cross-sectional, cohort, case-control, quasi-experimental, and randomized controlled studies from any country that reported the proportion of pregnant women who had an elevated depression or anxiety screening scale or diagnostic interview during any length of antepartum hospitalization and at any gestational age.
Researchers found 8,799 papers and reviewed 79 of them, 39 of which were included in a systematic review and 18 in a meta-analysis of the primary result. Using a 14-question checklist, two raters separately rated the quality of each research. To determine the prevalence and 95% CI of depression or anxiety, a random-effects meta-analysis model was utilized. The I2 test was used to analyze heterogeneity, while funnel plots were utilized to detect publication bias. In the following meta-analysis, the estimated prevalence of depression was 34% (95% CI 27–41%) and anxiety was 29% (95% CI 16–43%). Significant clinical and methodologic heterogeneity between trials was predicted, and it was maintained even after planned a priori subgroup analysis and meta-regression. Nonetheless, the impact direction was constant across trials. There was no evidence of publication bias.
According to the current meta-analysis, one in every three women admitted to the hospital during pregnancy for obstetric complications has clinical depression or anxiety symptoms, which is twice the reported prevalence of antenatal depression or anxiety in the general obstetric population.
Reference:journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/2021/05000/Prevalence_of_Depression_or_Anxiety_During.19.aspx
