An alternative perspective on prenatal invasive techniques: Comparison of pre-procedural anxiety and depression scores for patients undergoing chorion villus sampling and amniocentesis

Objective: To compare the pre-procedural anxiety and depression levels of patients undergoing chorion villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis (AC).

Methods: Patients referred to our department for fetal karyotype analysis with a positive first or second trimester screening test for aneuploidy between January 2013 to June 2015 were included. CVS and AC procedures were performed in patients with gestation periods of between 11-14 and 16-20 weeks, respectively. Anxiety was evaluated using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and depression was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II).

Results: A total of 1,400 patients were included. Compared to first trimester controls, patients undergoing CVS had significantly higher STAI-state and BDI-II results. Likewise, patients undergoing AC had higher STAI-state and BDI-II scores than controls in the second trimester. In terms of STAI-trait results, no difference was found between the groups. Our results also showed that, compared to AC group, patients undergoing CVS had similar STAI-state, STAI-trait and but higher BDI-II scores.

Conclusion: We conclude that evaluating the stress and depression levels of these patients should be one of the routine procedures in pregnancy follow-up.