Indian Institute of Public Health-Bangalore, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Bangalore, India.
Indian Institute of Public Health-Hyderabad, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Hyderabad, India.
J Psychosom Res. 2021 May;144:110390. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2021.110390. Epub 2021 Feb 10.
Physical inactivity leads to depression and other adverse health consequences. Pregnant women are an important subgroup to study the health consequences due to physical inactivity since it can lead to adverse outcomes in pregnancy and even after delivery. Therefore, we aimed at understanding the level of physical activity among pregnant women, prevalence of prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms and whether level of physical activity is associated with prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms.
In an ongoing cohort study, we measured the physical activity using a validated Physical Activity Level (PAL) questionnaire. We administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during pregnancy and within seven days of delivery to assess depressive symptoms in 1406 women. Associations were adjusted for potential confounders such as maternal age, education, socioeconomic status, gravida, EPDS score during pregnancy, social support, skinfold thickness, blood pressure, blood sugar level.
We found that 7.2% of pregnant women had low levels of physical activity. The prevalence of prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms was 9.0% and 31.9% respectively. Pregnant women with a low level of physical activity had significantly higher odds of developing postpartum depressive symptoms (OR = 3.15, CI: 1.98-5.02, p < 0.001) when adjusted for potential confounders.
Moderate level of physical activity among pregnant mothers is essential and has its association with postnatal depressive symptoms. Health care professionals need to counsel pregnant women to assess depressive symptoms at both the prenatal and postpartum period and inform them about the importance of the optimal level of physical activity.
缺乏身体活动可导致抑郁和其他不良健康后果。孕妇是研究身体活动缺乏健康后果的一个重要亚组，因为这可能导致妊娠不良结局，甚至在分娩后也是如此。因此，我们旨在了解孕妇的身体活动水平、产前和产后抑郁症状的流行情况，以及身体活动水平是否与产前和产后抑郁症状相关。
在一项正在进行的队列研究中，我们使用经过验证的身体活动水平（PAL）问卷来测量身体活动。我们在妊娠期间和分娩后七天内使用爱丁堡产后抑郁量表（EPDS）评估 1406 名女性的抑郁症状。调整了潜在混杂因素，如母亲年龄、教育、社会经济地位、孕次、妊娠期间 EPDS 评分、社会支持、皮褶厚度、血压、血糖水平。
我们发现，7.2%的孕妇身体活动水平较低。产前和产后抑郁症状的流行率分别为 9.0%和 31.9%。调整潜在混杂因素后，身体活动水平较低的孕妇产后发生抑郁症状的可能性显著更高（OR=3.15，95%CI：1.98-5.02，p<0.001）。
孕妇适度的身体活动水平是必要的，并且与产后抑郁症状有关。医疗保健专业人员需要为孕妇提供咨询，以评估产前和产后的抑郁症状，并告知她们保持最佳身体活动水平的重要性。
