A case-control study evaluating depression and quality of life in high-risk pregnant women

Objective: To assess quality of life (QoL), presence of depressive symptomatology and their relationship in normal and high-risk pregnant women. Material and Methods: Two hundred ninety seven pregnant women were screened using brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life in Turkish (WHOQOL-BREF TR) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: BDI level was found as 17 and over among 34.3% (n= 102) of all women who took part in our study and 42.6% (n= 49) among high-risk pregnants. The incidence of high-risk pregnancies among the pregnants who had 17 and over BDI score was found significantly higher than the ones who took 16 or lower (p= 0.017). High-risk pregnancies were 3-4 times higher among the pregnants whose husbands had education levels of primary, middle and high school than the level of university [orderly OR, %95 CI; 3.222 (1.546-6.714), 4.474 (1.840-10.879), 3.060 (1.430-6.549)]; 1.7-2.8 times higher among the pregnants whose husbands were workers, unemployed and self-employed than the ones whose husbands were official [orderly OR, %95 CI; 2.804 (1.382-5.689), 1.679 (0.434-6.495), 1.853 (0.955-3.598)]; 1.8 times higher among the pregnants who had 17 and over BDI score than the ones who had 16 and under BDI scores [OR= 1.807, %95 CI; (1.108-2.946)]. High-risk pregnancies among the unemployed pregnant women were 3.1 times higher than the employed [OR 95% CI; 3.167 (1.345-7.460)]. QoL scores in the domains of physical health (p< 0.001), psychological health (p= 0.036), social relationships (p< 0.001) and overall health (p< 0.001) were significantly lower among high-risk pregnants than normal ones. Conclusions: In this study a substantial number of pregnant women, especially high-risk ones had depression symptoms, and high-risk pregnancies decreased the quality of life. High-risk pregnant women may need more physical and psychological support. © 2010 by Türkiye Klinikleri.