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Accepted manuscript

Associations between iron status and psychosocial wellbeing among pregnant women in Cape Coast, Ghana: a longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2024

Ruth A Pobee Open the ORCID record for Ruth A Pobee [Opens in a new window] ,
Jacob Setorglo ,
Moses Klevor  and
Laura E. Murray-Kolb
Ruth A Pobee
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA USA Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jacob Setorglo
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Moses Klevor
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Laura E. Murray-Kolb*
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA USA Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
*
*Corresponding Author: Laura E. Murray-Kolb, Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, Tel: 765-496-3570
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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Objective:

To determine the associations among iron status, depressive/anxiety symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) throughout pregnancy.

Design:

This longitudinal study recruited participants in their 1st trimester (< 13 weeks; n=116) and followed in their 2nd (n=71) and 3rd (n=71) trimesters. Sociodemographic, food security, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and QoL questions were collected. Hemoglobin (Hb), ferritin (Ft), and transferrin saturation (TSAT) were determined. Women were categorized as iron improvers or non-improvers based on changes in iron status. Associations were assessed using difference-in-difference analyses.

Setting:

Cape Coast, Ghana between October 2017 to September 2018.

Participants:

Pregnant women, 18-38 years.

Results:

Improvement in Ft levels from the 1st to 2nd trimester were associated with reduced depressive symptoms (-2.96 vs -0.58, p=0.028), and higher overall QoL (13.99 vs 1.92, p=0.006) particularly role physical (23.32 vs -2.55, p=0.025) and role emotional (27.50 vs 10.06, p=0.025) subscales. Improvement in Hb levels during the same period were linked to less anxiety, particularly fear factor (-2.62 vs -0.51, p=0.020); and worsened physical health aspect of QoL (-21.80 vs -3.75, p=0.005). Improvement in TSAT levels from 2nd to 3rd trimester were associated with increased total anxiety (1.56 vs -0.64, p=0.030) and panic factor (0.45 vs -0.26, p=0.004) and decreased total QoL (-1.08 vs 7.94, p=0.017), specifically role physical (-10.98 vs 11.93, p=0.018).

Conclusion:

Increases in iron status from first to second trimester were related to improvements in psychosocial wellbeing, implying potential benefit of iron supplementation on affect in early pregnancy. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Keywords

Pregnancyiron deficiencyanxietydepressive symptomsquality of life
Type
Research Paper
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 29
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Authors 2024