TITLE:
Psychiatric Variables in Cytomegalovirus or Toxoplasma gondii—Infected Pregnants: Prospects for Cure with a Program of “Counseling about Behavioral Change”
AUTHORS:
Concetta De Pasquale, Maria Anna Coniglio, Maria Luisa Pistorio, Nunzio Massimo Scalisi, Federica Scalia, Carmela Maria Costanzo, Marina Marranzano, Guido Scalia
KEYWORDS:
Pregnancy, Psychiatric Symptoms, Somatization, Toxoplasma gondii, Cytomegalovirus
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.5 No.7,
July
27,
2015
ABSTRACT: TORCH complex, one of the potential infections that may occur during pregnancy, may contribute also to prenatal pregnant women’s anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to explore the presence of psychiatric symptoms, in relation with infection of TORCH agents, specifically the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV). The study was conducted on 58 pregnant women recruited from the Clinical Virology Unit, A.O.U. Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, P.O. “Gaspare Rodolico”, from September 2012 to March 2014. Psychiatric symptoms were evaluated through the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90 R) in pregnant women with CMV or T. gondii infection. Moreover, pregnant women were invited to participate in a program of “Counseling about behavioral change”, an effective psychotherapeutic training for the development of new motivational strategies to the infection acceptance, the greater self-confidence and greater adherence to treatment. The age of the subjects was positively correlated with Depression (r = 0.119, p ? 0.178, p ? 0.231, r = ? 0.320, p ? 0.208, p ? 0.105, p ? 0.236, p