Association Between Pain During Pregnancy and Postpartum Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent and Adult Women.
Bárbara Brenda de Araújo Faria, Sabrina Gabrielle Gomes Fernandes Macêdo, Catherine M Pirkle and 1 others
PMID 39142914WHAT IT FOUND
Pregnant adolescents with moderate to intense pain in two or more daily situations reported more postpartum depressive symptoms than those with pain in one situation.
In adults, pain was not associated with higher postpartum depressive symptom scores.
Key findings
01Adolescents with moderate to intense pain in at least two situations had higher postpartum depressive symptom scores than those with pain in one situation, but the difference was p = .086.
02Women reporting moderate to intense pain had more depressive symptoms for several pain items, especially burning vaginal pain after sex (p = .010).
03In adult women, postpartum depressive symptom scores were similar for those with or without moderate to intense pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Small convenience sample: 100 women were recruited and 86 were analysed, so some findings may be unstable. Pain was measured only once in the third trimester and depressive symptoms only once after birth, so the study cannot show that pain caused depression or that treating pain would help. The key adolescent pain-group difference had p = .086, and many pain items were not significant, so the evidence is weak. The adult group showed no difference in depressive symptom scores between pain groups. The marital status finding in adults relied on only 3 women in the comparison group. Women with chronic conditions, psychiatric conditions, or long-term medication use were excluded, so results may not apply to higher-risk pregnancies. Both pain and depressive symptoms were self-reported, and no clinical diagnosis of depression was made.
Declared interests
No competing interests were declared. The article is listed as supported by N.I.H., extramural funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating pain during pregnancy will prevent postpartum depression. The study observed an association, the main adolescent pain-group comparison had p = .086, and adult women showed no difference.