The temperament, anxiety and depression status of hemoglobinopathy traits during first trimester of pregnancy

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the temperament, depression, anxiety scores and pain level of first trimester pregnant women with a hemoglobinopathy trait undergoing chorionic villus sampling (CVS).
METHODS: This was a prospective study of pregnant women undergoing CVS between March 2020-January 2021. Sixty pregnant women without preexisting psychiatric illnesses were asked to fill the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego – autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A), Hamilton Anxiety and Beck Depression Inventory. Scores were evaluated before procedure and compared with clinical features such as and parity, history of abortus, employment and education status.
RESULTS: The highest TEMPS-A scores belonged to hyperthymic personality (11.5 ± 3.9). The employed pregnant women had lower scores of depressive (2.6±1.9 vs. 5.6±2.9, p<0.005) and anxious temperament (3.8±2.1 vs. 7.7±4.7, p=0.01) compared with housewives. Likewise university graduated pregnant women had lower scores of depressive (3.3±1.8 vs. 5.6±2.8, p<0.05) and anxious temperament (5.4±4.2 and 7.7 ±4.4, p<0.05) compared with less educated ones. Nearly one of the third pregnant women had moderate to severe depression scores and the mean depression scores were lower in employed women compared with housewives (6.7±2.9 vs. 14.2±4.2, p<0.05) and in university graduated compared with less educated ones (7.3±3.7 vs. 14.6±6.3, p<0.05) respectively.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The hyperthymic temperament had higher scores in pregnant women with a hemoglobinopathy trait over other temperament types and this was compatible with general pregnant population. Unemployment and less educated pregnant women required more psychological support since they had higher depression scores as well higher anxious and depressive temperament scores.