Evaluation of psychological resilience and anxiety levels of patients with hyperemesis gravidarum diagnosis and comparison with healthy pregnant women

OBJECTIVE: To compare the psychological resilience and anxiety levels of patients diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and healthy pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sociodemographic data form and the Resilience scale for Adults (RSA) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were administered. The sociodemographic data form was completed by the physician, and the RSA and STAI were completed by the participant. The sample of the study consisted of 60 pregnant women with HG and hospitalized and 97 healthy voluntary pregnant women with similar characteristics to the research group without any pregnancy complications. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistical analyses, the independent samples t-test, the Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson’s correlation analysis. RESULTS: The age range was 18-42 years for HG group and 20-43 years for control group. The average age of the HG group was 28.17±5.96 years and that of the control group was 29.45±5.83 years. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of pregnancy week. Regarding the prevalence of state and trait anxiety between the groups, it was found that 66.7% of the HG group had a high level of trait anxiety and 51.7% had a high level of state anxiety. It was found that 61.9% of the control group had a high level of trait anxiety and 38.1% had a high level of state anxiety. There was no difference between the healthy pregnant group and the HG group in terms of anxiety (p=0.125). It was found that there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of only sub-dimensions of RSA, which were perception of self (U=2385.00, p=0.044) and perception of future (U=2350.50, p=0.030). The perception of self and perception of future scores of the healthy control group were higher. CONCLUSION: There was no difference between the healthy pregnant group and the HG group in terms of anxiety. It was observed that the HG group had a lower perception of self and future. Apart from the usual increase in anxiety levels during pregnancy, HG accompanied by stubborn nausea and vomiting does not create an extra psychological burden, either as a cause or a result.