Protective and risk factors for women's mental health after a spontaneous abortion.
Francine deMontigny, Chantal Verdon, Sophie Meunier and 2 others
PMID 32901768WHAT IT FOUND
After miscarriage, 55% had symptoms suggesting possible depression.
Immigrant, low-income, childless women and those who miscarried within 6 months had higher symptoms. Better relationship and care satisfaction were linked to fewer symptoms.
Key findings
01125 women (55%) had a depression score indicating possible depression, and 62 (27.1%) had high perinatal grief scores.
02Women with family income ≤ 49,999 CAD, immigrant status, childlessness, a high-school diploma, or a miscarriage within the past 6 months had higher depression, anxiety or perinatal grief scores.
03After controlling for personal and contextual variables, better quality of the conjugal relationship was linked to lower depression, anxiety and perinatal grief, and better satisfaction with health care was linked to lower depression and perinatal grief.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that low income, immigrant status, childlessness, relationship problems or dissatisfaction with care caused worse mental health, or that better relationships or care improved mental health. There was no control group of women who did not miscarry, so the results cannot separate the effect of miscarriage from other stressors. Mental health before the miscarriage was not measured, so prior symptoms may explain some associations. History of mental health problems and use of medication or psychotherapy were not measured. The sample included few immigrant and low-income women, so those associations are less stable. Women were not asked whether they were pregnant at data collection, which could affect mental health scores. Participants were recruited through advertisements and completed an online self-report questionnaire, so the sample may not represent all women after miscarriage.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that better health-care satisfaction or relationship quality will reduce depression, anxiety or grief after miscarriage. This was a cross-sectional survey without a control group or pre-miscarriage mental health data, so the direction of the associations is unknown.