Anxiety and deterioration of quality of life factors associated with recurrent miscarriage in an observational study

Objectives: To examine the relationship of anxiety and quality of life and sleep variables to recurrent miscarriages (RMs) in patients during two stages of their treatment in an RM-dedicated clinic - before and after the evaluation and determine what factors could aggravate anxiety and worsen global well-being outcomes. Study design: Thirty-nine women who had experienced two or more RMs were measured before and after their evaluation and investigation in the RM clinic. A battery of questionnaires including the STAI scale and various instruments were administered to record anxiety, mental, and physical components of quality of life and sleep quality. Several statistical tests including canonical correlation were performed. Results: All the patients revealed a mild to moderate level of anxiety, low numbers of physical and mental health but reasonably normal values of the global quality of sleep. The evaluation in the RM clinic and investigation for possible causes accounting for RM did not significantly change anxiety levels. The children-to-pregnancies ratio introduced into the analysis proved to correlate significantly with the sleep quality and mental health. Summarized anxiety in a given RM woman could be predicted based on the set of the variables, characterizing the woman's reproductive status and her psychological health. Conclusions: This study establishes anxiety as a common response in RM patients, and suggests factors that predict it. Knowing these factors may help clinicians to identify more accurately those RM patients who would be prone to a high level of anxiety and therefore need more attention and reassurance.