[Assessment of anxiety in women during puerperium]

Abstract

Purpose: Many women experience various emotional disorders during puerperium characterized by high levels of anxiety.

The aim of this study: To analyse the level of anxiety in women during puerperium depending on age, education, marital status, number of pregnancies, route of delivery, and family situation.

Material and methods: We enrolled 120 women between day 10 and 15 of puerperium without any previous psychiatric disorders. Pregnancy, delivery, and puerperium were without any morbidity and the newborns were healthy. The level of anxiety was measured using C. D. Spilberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).

Results: The level of anxiety as a trait in women during puerperium was within normal limits, whereas the level of anxiety as a state was elevated. Primipara and women up to 20 years of age require special attention during psycho-preventive treatment due to increased level of anxiety as a trait during puerperium. Employment and family situation determine the level of anxiety as a state after delivery.

Conclusions: Identification of women with a higher level of anxiety as a state during puerperium may provoke early medical intervention in this group of women and thus contribute to improvement in the quality of life of the woman and conditions for future development of the neonate.