Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34282488›Full record

ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2022

The relationship between common mental disorders (CMDs), food insecurity and domestic violence in pregnant women during the COVID-19 lockdown in Cape Town, South Africa.

Zulfa Abrahams, Sonet Boisits, Marguerite Schneider, Martin Prince, Crick Lund

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
10.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

37 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Trial
  9. The role of household composition in social isolation and anxiety: evidence from adults in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Observational
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Zulfa AbrahamsDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Building B, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa. zulfa.abrahams@uct.ac.za.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7336-6009
Sonet BoisitsDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Building B, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
Marguerite SchneiderDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Building B, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
Martin PrinceHealth Service and Population Research Department, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's Global Health Institute, King's College London, London, UK.
Crick LundDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Building B, 46 Sawkins Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
University of Cape Town · ZAKing's College London · GB

Funding

National Institute for Health Research GHRU 16/136/54
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWe aimed to explore the relationship between common mental disorders (CMDs), food insecurity and experiences of domestic violence among pregnant women attending public sector midwife obstetric units and basic antenatal care clinics in Cape Town during the COVID-19 lockdown.

methodsPerinatal women, attending 14 healthcare facilities in Cape Town, were enrolled in the study during baseline data collection before the COVID-19 lockdown. During the lockdown period, fieldworkers telephonically contacted the perinatal women who were enrolled in the study and had provided contact details. The following data were collected from those who consented to the study: socio-demographic information, mental health assessment, food insecurity status and experiences of domestic violence. Poisson regression was used to model the associations of a number of risk factors with the occurrence of CMDs.

resultsOf the 2149 women enrolled in the ASSET study, 885 consented to telephonic interviews. We found that 12.5% of women had probable CMDs and 43% were severely food insecure. Psychological distress increased significantly during the lockdown period, compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak. Using multivariate Poisson regression modelling, we showed that the risk of CMDs was increased in women who were severely food insecure or who experienced psychological or sexual abuse.

conclusionsThis study provides evidence of the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on the mental health status of perinatal women living in low-resource settings in Cape Town and highlights how a crisis such as the COVID-19 lockdown amplifies the psycho-social risk factors associated with CMDs in perinatal women.

Indexed as

COVID-19Domestic ViolenceMental DisordersCommunicable Disease ControlFemaleFood InsecurityHumansPregnancyPregnant PeopleSARS-CoV-2South AfricaCOVID-19DepressionFood insecurityMaternalMental health

Identifiers

PMID34282488
PMCPMC8288830
OpenAlexW3184233240

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.