The Frequency and Severity of Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy and its Association with Psychosocial Health

Abstract

<em>Background & aim:</em> The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency and severity of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) and to investigate the association between psychosocial health and the severity of NVP. <br/><em>Methods:</em>This cross-sectional study was performed on 200 eligible pregnant women with nausea and vomiting at three prenatal care centers in Kashan, Iran. The participants completed demographic and pregnancy-related questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form, Winnfield Tiygmann social support questionnaire and Paykel scale of stressful life events. the severity of NVP was also recorded. ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine the relationship between different variables. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. <br/><em>Results:</em> The frequency of NVP was estimated at 71.5%. In total, 19%, 45.5% and 7% of these cases had mild, moderate and severe NVP, respectively. The severity of NVP was significantly associated with depression level (P=0.01). However, there was no correlation between the level of social support and unpleasant life events with severity of NVP. <br/><em>Conclusion:</em> According to the results of this study women with more severe NVP experienced a higher level of depression, compared to others. However, social support and other factors were not correlated with the severity of NVP.