- Academic Editor
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Background: We sought to assess the anxiety and depression scores of
pregnant women in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate the
impact of demographic, economic and social factors on these scores.
Methods: This was part of an ongoing worldwide cross-sectional study
conducted from 22 May 2020 to 28 February 2021. Data were collected through an
anonymous web-based survey. The severity of depression and anxiety was assessed
using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score and the General Anxiety
Disorder-7 (GAD-7) score, respectively. Results: A total of 361
participants completed both the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 questionnaires. Participants with
psychiatric illness reported a significant higher median GAD-7 score (6.00,
interquartile range [IQR] 3.00–7.75 vs. 2.00, IQR 0.00–6.00,
p = 0.001), while the median PHQ-9 score was also higher but was not
statistically significant (6.50, IQR 3.00–11.00 vs. 5.00, IQR
3.00–8.00, p = 0.066). A higher proportion of participants with
psychiatric illness reported moderate-severe depression and anxiety (35.7%
vs. 16.5%, p = 0.002, 17.8% vs. 3.6%, p