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BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 1/2021

Open Access 01-12-2021 | COVID-19 | Research article

Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and influencing factors of anxiety among pregnant women in Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

Authors: Wenping Ding, Jianmei Lu, Yan Zhou, Weizhong Wei, Zhihong Zhou, Min Chen

Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Background

Prenatal anxiety has been a significant public health issue globally, leading to adverse health outcomes for mothers and children. The study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP), and anxiety level of pregnant women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in Wuhan and investigate the influencing factors for prenatal anxiety in this specific context.

Methods

Pregnant subjects’ KAP towards COVID-19 and their sociodemographics and pregnancy information were collected using questionnaires. The Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) was used to assess anxiety status. Factors associated with the level of prenatal anxiety were analyzed by Pearson’s chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Results

The prenatal anxiety prevalence in this population was 20.8%. The mean score of knowledge was 13.2 ± 1.1 on a 0 ~ 14 scale. The attitudes and practices data showed that 580/ 817 (71.0%) were very concerned about the news of COVID-19, 455/817 (55.7%) considered the official media to be the most reliable information source for COVID-19, and 681/817 (83.4%) were anxious about the possibility of being infected by COVID-19. However, only 83/817 (10.2%) worried about contracting COVID-19 infection through the ultrasound transducer during a routing morphology scan. About two-thirds 528/817 (64.6%) delayed or canceled the antenatal visits. Approximately half of them 410/817 (50.2%) used two kinds of personal protection equipments (PPEs) during hospital visits. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the influential factors for prenatal anxiety included previous children in the family, knowledge score, media trust, worry of contracting the COVID-19 infection and worry about getting infected with COVID-19 from the ultrasound probe antenatal care (ANC) schedule.

Conclusion

Prenatal anxiety was prevalent among pregnant women in Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID-19. The current findings identified factors associated with the level of prenatal anxiety that could be targeted for psychological care.
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Metadata
Title
Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and influencing factors of anxiety among pregnant women in Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID-19: a cross-sectional study
Authors
Wenping Ding
Jianmei Lu
Yan Zhou
Weizhong Wei
Zhihong Zhou
Min Chen
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keywords
COVID-19
Anxiety
Published in
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2393
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-021-03561-7

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