FREQUENCY OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AND ITS PSYCHOSOCIAL CORRELATES AMONG WOMEN RECEIVING ANTENATAL CARE IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN KARACHI.

OBJECTIVE To determine the proportion of women suffering from antenatal depression and anxiety visiting a tertiary care hospital for routine antenatal visits to evaluate the psychosocial factors associated with their depression and anxiety. STUDY DESIGN A descriptive cross-sectional study PLACE AND DURATION Department of Gynaecology & Obstetrics Ward 9B, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC), Karachi from January 2024 to May 2024. METHODS The study was conducted with 249 pregnant women via non-probability, consecutive sampling. The Urdu validated version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale was used to assess anxiety and depression. Psychosocial stressors were also recorded. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 23.0. RESULTS The study showed that 20% of women in their 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancies were anxious and 5% were depressed. Critical psychosocial factors included low education, marital stressors such as low social support from husband and/or in-laws, living separately from husband, and intimate partner violence, financial stressors such as husband unemployment and pregnancy-related factors such as unplanned pregnancy and narrow birth spacing. CONCLUSION The study provides a significant burden of antenatal mental health issues in our region and their specific associated psychosocial factors. The study emphasizes upon the need for Biopsychosocial support systems as well as interventional measures to mitigate any risk of developing antenatal depression and to optimize the maternal health, both mental and physical, during this crucial period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]