Are there any differences in psychiatric symptoms and eating attitudes between pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidarum and healthy pregnant women?

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to determine the relationship between eating attitudes and psychiatric symptoms in women with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and to compare these women with healthy control subjects.

Methods: The study sample included 48 women with HG, and the control group had 44 pregnant women. The patients were selected from women with HG hospitalized in the obstetric inpatient clinic. All of the participants were in the first trimester of pregnancy. The participants' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were recorded in the obstetric clinic. All of the participants completed a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and Body Image Scale (BIS).

Results: Women with HG were more likely to have had a history of HG during their previous pregnancy (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the study and control groups regarding obstetric history. Women with HG were more influenced by food that induced nausea. There was no significant difference between the study and control groups for pre-pregnancy nausea, food craving and the initial BMI (P>0.05). Depression and anxiety scores were significantly higher in women with HG (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the study and control groups for body image score and eating attitude test scores (P>0.05).

Conclusion: We suggest that HG appears to be associated with depression and anxiety symptoms rather than deterioration of eating attitudes and body image. However, these results should be confirmed by prospective and clinical studies.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; eating attitudes; hyperemesis gravidarum.