Institute of Health Sciences, Medical College, University of Rzeszów, 35-310 Rzeszów, Poland.
Natural and Medical Centre for Innovative Research, 35-310 Rzeszów, Poland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 17;19(4):2284. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19042284.
The aim of the foregoing study was to assess whether physical activity during pregnancy affects the occurrence of anxiety and depression during pregnancy, postpartum and 6 months following childbirth. This study tried to answer the following questions: How was the incidence of depression and anxiety different in the pre- and postpartum periods? What intensity level of physical activity protects against the symptoms of anxiety and depression? Does the time spent engaged in sedentary activities and MVPA affect the occurrence of depression and anxiety before and after childbirth? The study group under analysis consisted of 187 women aged 19-41 years. The research was conducted between April 2016 and November 2020. The study was divided into four stages: T0-qualification to participate in the study; T1-medical history acquisition, consisting of a short questionnaire and two long questionnaires (the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)), as well as an assessment of 7-day physical activity using Actigraph accelerometers during the pregnancy; T2-the completion of the EPDS and GAD-7 questionnaires after the birth; T3-the completion of the EPDS and GAD-7 questionnaire 6 months after giving birth. The obtained results were statistically processed in the Statistica 13.3 software package. A significance level of < 0.05 was assumed. The highest percentage of depression occurred immediately after the delivery, followed by 6 months after delivery, and the smallest number of women suffered from depression before the birth ( < 0.001). The analysis of correlations of physical activity with anxiety symptoms did not show significant correlations. However, the situation is different in the case of depression symptoms. Women taking fewer steps before delivery showed a greater tendency to develop depressive symptoms before, immediately after and 6 months after the delivery ( < 0.001). Women who were less active (took fewer steps per day, spent less time in moderate-to-vigorous physical (MVPA) activities or spent more time being sedentary) showed symptoms of depression on the EPDS scale. It appeared that those with severe anxiety symptoms had the highest sedentary time scores before the delivery ( = 0.020). Reduced physical activity promotes the onset of postnatal depression, while being active reduces this risk. Interestingly, even light physical activity "protects" against the occurrence of depression and is better than sedentary activities. Such clear conclusions cannot be drawn in relation to anxiety symptoms. Sedentary behaviour may promote anxiety symptoms immediately after childbirth, but this study should be continued in order to confirm it during other time periods.
本研究旨在评估孕妇的身体活动是否会影响孕期、产后和产后 6 个月时的焦虑和抑郁发生。本研究试图回答以下问题：孕期和产后期间抑郁和焦虑的发生率有何不同？何种强度的身体活动可以预防焦虑和抑郁症状？从事久坐活动和中高强度身体活动的时间是否会影响分娩前后的抑郁和焦虑发生？分析组包括 187 名年龄在 19-41 岁的女性。研究于 2016 年 4 月至 2020 年 11 月进行。研究分为四个阶段：T0-参与研究的资格；T1-病史采集，包括简短问卷和两份长问卷（爱丁堡产后抑郁量表（EPDS）和一般焦虑障碍-7（GAD-7）），以及使用 Actigraph 加速度计在怀孕期间评估 7 天的身体活动；T2-分娩后完成 EPDS 和 GAD-7 问卷；T3-分娩后 6 个月完成 EPDS 和 GAD-7 问卷。所得结果在 Statistica 13.3 软件包中进行了统计处理。假设显著性水平为<0.05。产后立即出现抑郁的比例最高，其次是产后 6 个月，产前出现抑郁的女性人数最少（<0.001）。身体活动与焦虑症状的相关性分析未显示出显著相关性。然而，在抑郁症状的情况下情况有所不同。产前步数较少的女性在分娩前、分娩后立即和分娩后 6 个月时出现抑郁症状的趋势更大（<0.001）。活动较少的女性（每天步数较少、中高强度体力活动（MVPA）时间较少或久坐时间较多）在 EPDS 量表上表现出抑郁症状。似乎有严重焦虑症状的女性在分娩前的久坐时间得分最高（=0.020）。减少身体活动会促进产后抑郁的发生，而保持活跃则会降低这种风险。有趣的是，即使是轻度的身体活动“也能”预防抑郁的发生，而且比久坐活动更好。对于焦虑症状，不能得出如此明确的结论。产后立即久坐可能会导致焦虑症状，但应继续进行这项研究，以便在其他时间段内确认这一点。
