Demographic risk factors of prenatal obsessive compulsive symptoms in pregnant women

Objective: To assess significant contribution of demographic correlates in predicting obsessive compulsive symptoms in pregnant women during prenatal period visiting various hospitals in District Gujrat.Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Department of Psychology from October, 2018 to July, 2019. Prenatal Obsession Compulsion Scale (POCS), 40-items were administered on 352 purposively selected pregnant women. Out of these, 203 women prone to prenatal obsessive-compulsive symptoms were screened out for further analysis. The salient demographic characteristics included: 36.9% were graduates, 66% were house wives with 97.5% having husbands alive. 30% had monthly income ranging from 61,000 to 85,000 PKR, 70% had unplanned pregnancy and 45.3% expected first time. 30% had miscarriage history, 24.6% lost fetus only one time and 12.3% gave birth to dead child in prior pregnancy.Results: Certain psychosocial-demographics (R = .69, F (7, 195) = 61.99, p < 0.001), perinatal-demographic variables (R2= .57, F (7, 195) = 36.24, p < 0.001) and socioeconomic-status ((R2= .56, F (3, 199) = 84.48, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of obsessive -compulsive symptoms in 203 prone pregnant women during prenatal period. 57.1% were hospitalized primarily due to obsessive compulsive disorder; 62.6% went to government hospitals (62.6%). 63.5% lived in joint family system, of rural residential areas (63.1%), with 28% having 5 to 7 family members in home.Conclusion: Significance of demographic contributors as risk factors for obsessive compulsive symptoms in pregnant women werecertain psycho -social-demographics, perinatal-demographic variables and socioeconomic-status