Perinatal mental e-health: What is the profile of pregnant women interested in online assessment of their emotional state?
Laura Andreu-Pejó, Verónica Martínez-Borba, Jorge Osma López and 2 others
PMID 36068679WHAT IT FOUND
Pregnant women interested in online emotional-state assessment were mostly partnered, highly educated, primiparous and generally high-functioning; only 281 of 2,797 registered completed prenatal assessments, and women with prior treatment reported more symptoms.
Key findings
01Only 281 of 2,797 registered pregnant women completed the prenatal assessment on the website.
02Women with previous psychological treatment reported higher neuroticism, trait anxiety, stressful life events, depressive symptoms and maladjustment, and lower anxiety control and social support.
03Prenatal depressive symptoms were associated with psychological factors, not with socio-demographic, obstetric, medical or health-habit variables.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The characteristics of women not interested in the platform are unknown, so the sample may represent only women already interested in e-health. No random sampling was used, and the sample size was medium, so results may not generalise to all pregnant women. Only 281 of 2,797 registered women completed prenatal assessments, and the number of access codes actually given to women was unknown. The study reports associations at a prenatal time point, not whether online assessment improves detection, care or outcomes. Some comparisons used t tests despite non-normal data because population norms lacked distribution information.
Declared interests
Supported by Universitat Jaume I, Gobierno de Aragón, Feder, Conselleria de Sanidad, Fundación Universitaria Antonio Gargallo and Obra Social Ibercaja; the authors report no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that online perinatal mental health screening is effective or feasible for all pregnant women. This study describes only women who completed the website, and only 281 of 2,797 registered women completed prenatal assessments.