ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2025
Prevalence and correlates of depressive and anxiety symptoms among pregnant women from an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya: a community-based cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Gender differences in the prevalence of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder and associated factors among adults in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring potential factors influencing perinatal mental health in Kajiado County, Kenya: a qualitative study with mothers and healthcare workers.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Key predictors of postpartum depression and anxiety symptoms among mothers in Kilifi, Kenya: a machine learning approach.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Effect of guided imagery on anxiety among pregnant working women.Bioinformation · 2026Article
- Depressive and anxiety symptomatology among caregivers of children 0-3 years in Nairobi City County: Community-based prevalence study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
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Abstract
purposePrevious research, largely from the Global North, reports high rates of common mental health disorders among women in the antenatal period, but there is paucity of such data in contexts like Kenya. This study investigated the prevalence and correlates of depressive and anxiety symptoms among pregnant women in an urban informal settlement in Kenya's capital - Nairobi.
methodsAn analysis of baseline cross-sectional data from a pilot cluster randomized trial of an integrated early childhood development programme. Participants were pregnant women in their third pregnancy trimester (N = 249), residing in an urban informal settlement in Nairobi County. Mental health measures [(Patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7)] were administered alongside other sociodemographic, pregnancy, and health-related questionnaires. Linear regression analysis was performed to investigate correlates of antenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms.
resultsParticipant's mean age was 27.5 years (SD = 5.6). The prevalence of antenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms was 26.9% (95%CI: 21.4-32.4) and 6.4% (95%CI: 3.4-9.4), based on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 cut-off scores of ≥ 10 respectively. Being married was a significant correlate for decreased depressive and anxiety symptoms. Higher levels of education (secondary or tertiary), history of three or more previous pregnancies, and an experience of moderate-to-extreme pain were significant correlates for elevated depressive symptoms. Similarly, tertiary level of education, history of four or more previous pregnancies, and experiencing pain were significant correlates for elevated anxiety symptoms for the pregnant women. Participants reporting feeling unwell had significantly higher anxiety symptom scores.
conclusionIn this setting, correlates of antenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms cut across demographic, pregnancy and health-related factors with implications for targeted interventions. Findings point to the need for screening of depression and anxiety as part of routine antenatal care. Further research is needed to understand these contextual correlates.
trial registrationThis study was part of the integrated early childhood development pilot cluster randomised control trial, retrospectively registered in the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry on 26/03/2021, registration number PACTR202103514565914.
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