Effect of knowledge acquisition on gravida’s anxiety during COVID-19

OBJECTIVES: Pregnant women in China are among those most affected by COVID-19. This article assesses Chinese pregnant women’s COVID-19 and pregnancy knowledge levels, including the modality through which such knowledge was acquired, the degree of difficulty in acquiring the knowledge, the means of confirming the accuracy of the knowledge, and difficulties in seeking help from people who possess relevant medical knowledge. METHOD: The Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test was used to assess trends in binomial proportions. Multivariable binary logistic regression was performed to identify the association between knowledge acquisition and anxiety among pregnant women. RESULTS: Low scores on knowledge about pregnancy, acquiring COVID-19 and pregnancy information through communication with others, verifying COVID-19 and pregnancy information either independently or via friends, and experiencing difficulties in seeking professional help regarding COVID-19 and pregnancy significantly increased anxiety among pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant women’s anxiety can be effectively reduced through developing and disseminating targeted information, including how to cope in an emergency (such as a major disease outbreak), through popular and social media, along with the provision of convenient consultation services.