Assessment of Anxiety and Depression Levels of Pregnant Women with Hyperemesis Gravidarum in a Case-control Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the depression and anxiety levels of pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidarum by using the Beck depression and anxiety inventory scoring system in a Turkish population.

Material And Methods: To ascertain this relationship, a case-control study was conducted involving 86 pregnant women in their first trimester of pregnancy. Forty-one subjects had hyperemesis gravidarum, and 45 were healthy pregnant women who served as control subjects. The groups were adjusted for age, parity, and body mass index. All included women were subjected to baseline laboratory investigations including serum TSH and total hCG levels.

Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the groups with respect to the demographic and obstetric parameters and baseline laboratory investigations except the mean serum potassium level, which was significantly lower in patients with hyperemesis gravidarum than in the control group (p=0.039). Patients with hyperemesis gravidarum had significantly higher depression and anxiety scores than control cases (p=0.0001 and p=0.049, respectively).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that increased anxiety and depression levels may be involved in the pathogenesis of hyperemesis gravidarum and extra psychological support may be necessary during the treatment and follow-up of these patients.