PREVELANCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF ANXIETY AMONG PREGNANT WOMAN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CARE IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS OF JIGJIGA CITY SOMALI REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health problems during pregnancy as a result of the physical and psychological changes. Anxiety among pregnancy, involving labor and delivery, the well-being of the fetus/infant and the mother it has been associated with various consequence of mother and their baby like postpartum depression, preterm birth, preeclampsia, low birth weight, fetal distress, poor cognitive development child. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of anxiety among pregnant women in jigjiga city. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety symptom and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Jigjig city public hospitals, Ethiopia from November 15.2024 to December 30.2024. Methods: An institutional based cross-sectional study design was conducted among pregnant women attending antenatal care service at public hospitals in jigjig city Somali region Ethiopia, from Nov.15, to Dec.30 2024. Simple random sampling was used to enroll eligible pregnancy women attending antenatal care service. Data was collected with interviewer-administered questionnaires demographic, obstetric, psychosocial, substance used and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale for Antenatal Anxiety (HAMAA). Scale was used to assess symptoms of antenatal anxiety respectively. Women with HAMA-A score ≥17 were considered to have anxiety disorder. Data were entered to kobo tool, then export and analyzed in SPSS-25 version statistical software. Then binary and multiple logistic regression was performed to check the association between dependent and independent variable. Factors associated with anxiety disorders was determined using AOR with 95%CI and statistical significance was declared at P-value < 0.05. Results: A total of 587 pregnant women participated in this study making a response rate of 100%. The prevalence of anxiety among pregnant women in this study was found to be 45% (95% CI: 40.9-49.1). Having history of stillbirth (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.06-2.34, p = 0.022), relative involvement in household decision-making (AOR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.19-4.54, p = 0.013), unplanned pregnancy (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.03-2.28, p = 0.037), not having husband support (AOR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.01-2.04, p = 0.042) were significantly associated with anxiety among pregnant women. XI Conclusion: The findings from this study indicated that nearly half of the participants experienced anxiety. Factors such as a history of stillbirth, lack of autonomy in household decision-making, unplanned pregnancy, and lack of husband support were found to be associated with anxiety. The study suggests that the importance of pregnant women is encourage actively seek emotional and psychological support during pregnancy, especially if they have experienced previous adverse pregnancy outcomes.