Stress and depression among women and men who have experienced recurrent pregnancy loss: focusing on both sexes

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

Research Question: Are women and men suffering from recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) more affected by psychological stress and depression than the general population? Design: Cross-sectional study investigating the prevalence of stress and depression in women and men with RPL seen in the Danish national RPL Unit. Data were collected between 2015-2018. All newly referred couples were asked to complete the Major Depression Index (MDI) and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The scores of both sexes were compared with scores from relevant cohorts of men and women from the general population. Results: In total, 412 women with RPL (82% response rate) and 281 male partners (60% response rate) were included. Depression: 5/281 (1.8%) of men with RPL had moderate/severe depression vs. 5/253 (2.0%) of men in the comparison group (relative risk (RR) 0.90; 95% CI 0.26-3.07, p=0.99). Among women with RPL, 34/412 (8.3%) had a moderate/severe depression vs. 2.2% in the comparison group (RR 3.74; 95% CI 2.40-5.83, p<0.001). High stress levels were found in 30/281 men with RPL (10.7%) vs. 15.8% in the comparison group (co-habiting men) (RR 0.67; 95% CI 0.48-0.94, p=0.017). High stress level was found among 110/384 (28.6%) of RPL-women vs. 420/1813 (23.2%) of comparison women (RR 1.24; 95% CI 1.03-1.48, p=0.026). Both MDI and PSS scores, respectively, for a woman and a man in an RPL couple were significantly correlated. Conclusion: Male partners in RPL couples did not have increased prevalence of stress and depression compared with other men but we confirmed our previous finding of significantly increased frequencies among women with RPL.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftReproductive BioMedicine Online
Vol/bind42
Udgave nummer4
Sider (fra-til)1172-1180
ISSN1472-6483
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2021

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
Anne Illemann Christensen from the National Institute of Public Health has contributed to the study with access to data regarding male stress in the general population. SH obtained a research scholarship from The Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF18OC0033334).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd.

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