Background
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is the most prevalent anxiety disorder during the perinatal period. Conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses to evaluate interventions in medical research is often halted due to the variability of outcomes and outcome measurement instruments (OMIs) used in treatment studies. This scoping review aimed to identify whether heterogeneity exists across outcomes and OMIs in treatment studies for perinatal GAD. The outcomes identified in this review will inform the next phase of a core outcome set development for GAD interventions in the perinatal period, standardizing the key outcomes for measurement and reporting in treatment studies.
Methods
Studies were included if: 1) they were English from the years 2011 to 2025; 2) participants were in the perinatal period with a GAD diagnosis; and 3) the aim of the intervention was to treat GAD during the perinatal period. Three bibliographic databases were searched. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility. Study characteristics and data were extracted.
Results
Of the 6447 records identified, 6 studies were included. The outcomes from the six studies were mapped to five core areas in Dodd et al.'s (2018) research outcome framework, yielding 13 distinct outcomes. The most reported outcome, anxiety symptoms, was measured by 4 different OMIs. Most outcomes were mapped to the physiological/clinical core area highlighting the lack of patient-centered outcomes.
Limitations
Limitations included a date restricted search, English-only articles and 139 studies being excluded due to not using a diagnostic assessment tool.
Conclusions
Heterogeneity exists across the outcomes and OMIs in studies assessing interventions for GAD during the perinatal period. To enable the synthesis, reproducibility and comparison of treatment studies, future research should standardize outcomes and OMIs which in turn will inform clinical practice guidelines and policies.
Emma Stallwood, Benicio N Frey, Emily N Barrett, Alexandra Markwell, Nancy J Butcher, Randi E McCabe, Sheryl M Green
Disease Category: Mental health
Disease Name: Perinatal Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Age Range: 18 - 120
Sex: Either
Nature of Intervention: Any
- Systematic review of outcomes measured in trials
- Systematic review