TITLE:
Maternal anxiety associated with fetal echocardiography
AUTHORS:
Alexandra Channing, Katherine Rosenberg, Catherine Monk, Charles S. Kleinman, Julie S. Glickstein, Stephanie M. Levasseur, Lynn L. Simpson, Ismee A. Williams
KEYWORDS:
Maternal Anxiety; Prenatal Testing; Birth Defects; Fetal Echocardiography
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.2 No.2,
June
19,
2012
ABSTRACT: Background: Women awaiting fetal echocardiography (fECHO) report high anxiety. It is unclear if anxiety decreases after performance of fECHO. Methods: At fECHO, subjects’ current (state) vs baseline (trait) anxiety was assessed using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Anxiety scores of the pre- and post-fECHO groups were compared. Results: From January 2007 to January 2009, we recruited 84 subjects: 40 pre-fECHO and 44 post-fECHO. Of the post-fECHO group, 30 had normal fetal cardiac structure and function confirmed, 12 were told of an abnormality, and 2 were told to follow up equivocal results. Anxiety scores were compared between the 40 pre-fECHO subjects and the 30 post-fECHO subjects with normal results. The mean state anxiety score of the pre-fECHO group was higher than that of the post-fECHO group (42.1 ± 15.1 vs 30.8 ± 8.5, p