Associations between disability status and stressors experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic among women with a recent live birth, 2020.
Megan Steele-Baser, Jennifer M Bombard, Cynthia H Cassell and 8 others
PMID 40050144WHAT IT FOUND
Postpartum women who reported a lot of difficulty or inability in seeing, hearing, walking, remembering, self-care, or communication had more pandemic stressors than women without disability, especially food insecurity and partner-related strain.
Key findings
01Women classified as having disability reported higher prevalence of food insecurity (39.5% vs 14.5%) and partner-related stressors (35.8% vs 17.4%) than women without disability.
02After controlling for age, race and ethnicity, education, marital status, and payment at delivery, women with disability had higher adjusted prevalence of economic, housing, childcare, food insecurity, mental health, partner-related, and any stressor.
03Women with disability were less likely to report no stressor types (6.5% vs 21.0%) and more likely to report 5 to 6 stressor types (19.2% vs 4.2%) than women without disability.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
It included only 14 jurisdictions that used both supplements, so it may not apply to other U.S. areas. It cannot show that disability caused the stressors because disability and stressors were measured in the same postpartum survey. It does not say whether stressors happened during pregnancy, postpartum, or both. Disability was asked at survey completion after pregnancy, so status may have changed since pregnancy. Women with severe disability may have been underrepresented because the survey had mail and phone modes and no additional accommodations. Small numbers prevented analysis by disability type, jurisdiction, and some racial and ethnic groups. Stressors were self-reported, and sensitive topics such as partner conflict may be underreported.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the higher stressor prevalence as proof that disability caused the stressors or that therapy would reduce them. This was a postpartum survey, so it cannot establish cause or treatment effects.