Psychological Disorders in Women with Spontaneous Preterm Delivery

Background Preterm delivery is a major cause of mortality in infants. The prevalence of preterm delivery is rising over time. Psychological disorders have been associated with preterm delivery. In this study, we aimed to compare the frequency of psychological disorders among women with spontaneous preterm versus term delivery. Methods In this cross- sectional study, psychological disorders in 60 women, who experienced spontaneous term delivery and in 60 women who had spontaneous preterm delivery (gestational age of less than 37 weeks) were examined , using symptom checklist-90-revised questionnaire (SCL-90-R) in Akbarabadi teaching hospital during 2014. The question scales were compared between the two groups, using Chi 2 test and independent t- test. Results The mean age of the participants was 23.58 ± 4.26, and 23.90 ± 4.71 in preterm-delivery and term-delivery groups, respectively (P value = 0.22). The mean score of Symptom checklist-90-revised questionnaire (SCL-90-R) was 102.21 (± 35.81) in women with preterm delivery, and it was 59.14 ± 22.17 in women with term delivery, which was significantly different (P value < 0.001). In addition, the total score and the score for all the subscales of psychological disorder were higher in women with preterm delivery (P value < 0.001). Conclusions Psychological disorders in pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery. Therefore, future studies should focus on finding ways to lower psychological disorders in late pregnancy.