Maternal Mental Health, COVID-19-Related Distress, and Disruptions in Lifestyle Behaviors Among Postpartum Mothers With a Previous Hypertensive Disorder of Pregnancy.
Jewel Scott, Alisse Hauspurg, Esa M Davis and 2 others
PMID 37723619WHAT IT FOUND
Postpartum mothers with prior hypertensive disorders reported pandemic distress linked to greater disruption in diet, activity, and sleep.
PTSD symptoms were also linked. Depression was not when examined separately.
Key findings
01Among 82 women, 27.16% had clinically significant depressive symptoms and 36.59% had clinically significant PTSD symptoms.
02In adjusted models, pandemic-related distress was associated with greater disruption in health behaviors (B=0.590, p<.001).
03In separate models, PTSD symptoms remained associated with greater disruption after accounting for pandemic-related distress, while depressive symptoms did not.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysis was cross-sectional and single-site, so it cannot determine cause and effect and may not apply to other settings. Only 82 of 148 enrolled women completed the survey, although nonrespondents did not differ on education, income, race/ethnicity, parity, or severity of hypertensive disorders. Prior depression or PTSD history was self-reported and subject to recall bias, and current mental health treatment was not available. The study did not include other chronic stressors such as racism and sexism. Participants had been randomized to different prior intervention arms, and assigned arm was adjusted for rather than tested as the main exposure.
Declared interests
One author was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute training grant 5T32HL007560. The publication types list NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pandemic distress or PTSD symptoms caused changes in diet, activity, or sleep. The analysis was cross-sectional and measured these factors at one time, so it can show association but not cause.