Anxiety among women experiencing medically complicated pregnancy: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Background Symptoms of anxiety are common among pregnant and postpartum women, and 15%-20% of pregnancies are affected by medical complications. Despite this, little is known about the relationship of medical complications in pregnancy and women's experience of anxiety. The purpose of this research was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of differences in anxiety symptom severity among women experiencing a medically complicated versus a medically uncomplicated pregnancy. Methods This work was guided by the PRISMA reporting process. Electronic databases MEDLINE and PsycINFO were searched to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. An adaptation of the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for case-control studies was used to perform a quality assessment review. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to calculate the estimated average standardized mean differences. Results Based on the five studies which met our inclusion criteria, findings provide evidence of higher levels of anxiety symptoms among pregnant women experiencing a medically complicated versus a medically uncomplicated pregnancy. Despite considerable heterogeneity, all mean difference estimates are in the direction of greater anxiety in the high-risk groups. Conclusions Women experiencing a medically complex pregnancy report higher levels of anxiety symptoms compared to women experiencing a medically uncomplicated pregnancy.