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. 2025;52(4):377-387.
doi: 10.1159/000543684. Epub 2025 Feb 5.

Psychological Impact in Early Pregnancy Loss: The Effects of Disclosing the Causative Chromosomal Anomaly

Maria Borrell  1 , Montse Pauta  1 , Aida Mallorquí  2 , Victoria Ardiles-Ruesjas  3   4 , Virginia Borobio  1 , Carmen Illanes  1 , Isabel Matas  1 , Antoni Borrell  1   5
Affiliations

Psychological Impact in Early Pregnancy Loss: The Effects of Disclosing the Causative Chromosomal Anomaly

Maria Borrell et al. Fetal Diagn Ther. 2025.

Abstract

Introduction: The study investigated whether the disclosure of the chromosomal anomaly causing early pregnancy loss (EPL) favors the grief process and reduces psychological distress.

Methods: Women experiencing EPL were invited to participate in the study at the time they were offered chorionic villi sampling (CVS) and karyotyping before uterine evacuation. They completed two online surveys: one a week after EPL and another a month later, after receiving cytogenetic results. The surveys measured anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) cognitive depression factor items, post-traumatic stress disorder (Impact of the Event Scale-Revised [IES-R]), and rumination (Ruminative Responses Scale [RRS-10]). Participants were divided into groups based on the chromosomal anomaly found at CVS: A1 (autosomal trisomy), A2 (other anomalies), and B (no anomalies).

Results: A significant score decline was observed in the four studied psychological scales assessing anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and rumination, between the first and second survey. The proportion of women with a clinical score also demonstrated a significant decline, except for anxiety. When these changes were assessed after karyotypic group stratification, the group with other chromosomal anomalies (A2) showed the highest drop. This group also demonstrated a significantly higher depression score decline at multivariate regression analysis of the median.

Conclusion: EPL significantly impacts women's mental health, with 19%-51% experiencing manifestations. Disclosing chromosomal anomalies may aid in psychological recovery, particularly in reducing clinical scores for depression.

Keywords: Anxiety; Chromosomal anomalies; Depression; Early pregnancy loss; Genetic testing; Perinatal grief; Post-traumatic stress; Ruminative thoughts.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Participant selection and sample size overview.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Evolution of mean scores of the four studied scales between the first and second survey in the entire study population.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Evolution of the proportion of the four clinical scores between the first and second survey in the entire study population.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Evolution of the mean score for the four studied scales between the first and second survey stratified by study group.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Evolution of the proportion of the four clinical scores between the first and second survey stratified by study group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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