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. 2024 Apr 30;24(1):270.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-024-03109-9.

Psychological impact and associated factors of the COVID-19 pandemic among pregnant women in Fafan Zone health institutions, Somali Region, Eastern Ethiopia, 2021

Affiliations

Psychological impact and associated factors of the COVID-19 pandemic among pregnant women in Fafan Zone health institutions, Somali Region, Eastern Ethiopia, 2021

Meka Kedir Jibril et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Despite pregnant women's vulnerability to respiratory illnesses and pregnancy complications during the COVID-19 pandemic, research on its psychological impact in the study area, is limited.

Objective: This study aims to fill this gap by examining the prevalence and factors linked to the psychological impact among pregnant women in the Fafan zone, Somali region of Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted from April 1st to April 30th, 2021, randomly selected health facilities for inclusion. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) assessed psychological impact, and data were analyzed using SPSS V 22. Variables with a p-value ≤ 0.25 in bivariate analysis were considered for multivariate analysis via multiple logistic regressions with the backward elimination method.

Results: The study involved 294 pregnant women, constituting 73% of the respondents. The prevalence of psychological impact attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic was 27.2%. Factors such as being in the first trimester of pregnancy (AOR: 5.32), travel history to infected areas (AOR: 3.71), obtaining COVID-19 information from television (AOR: 4.81), and using social media for 1 to 2 hours daily for updates (AOR: 1.35) were significantly associated with this impact.

Conclusion: While the psychological impact among pregnant women in this study was relatively lower compared to other research, factors such as gestational age, TV media exposure, travel history, and social media usage for COVID-19 updates were strongly linked to this impact, highlighting the necessity for psychological support services for pregnant women during challenging times.

Keywords: Associated factors; Coronavirus; Outbreak; Pregnant women; Psychological Impact.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Subtypes of social support among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Fafan Zone Health Institutions, Somali Region Eastern Ethiopia in 2021 (n= 294)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Fafan Zone Health Institutions, Somali Region Eastern Ethiopia in 2021 (n= 294)

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