Investigation regarding early cognitive function of women in the postpartum period and the analysis of influencing factors

Abstract

Objective: The present study aims to assess the cognitive function of healthy full-term puerperae and compare it with the cognitive function of healthy non-pregnant women in order to analyze possible influencing factors. Methods: The study subjects were divided into two groups: the maternal (case) group (n = 80) and the control group (n = 30). A total of 50 healthy single-birth full-term primiparous women and 30 women undergoing a second pregnancy were assigned to the maternal group, while 30 non-pregnant women matched by general data were assigned to the control group. Subject cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (Beijing version) and the Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS) (Mandarin version); related influencing factors were analyzed. Results: In the maternal group, the results showed a MoCA score of 26.52 ± 2.13 points and a cognitive impairment incidence of 26% in primiparous women, along with a MoCA score of 25.83 ± 2.49 points and a cognitive impairment incidence of 36.7% in women undergoing a second pregnancy. All scores were lower in the maternal group than in the control group, which had a MoCA score of 27.47 ± 1.28 points and cognitive impairment incidence of 6.7% (p < 0.05). The differences in MoCA score and cognitive impairment incidence between the primiparous sub-group and the second pregnancy sub-group were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The visual space and executive function MoCA scale scores were lower in the maternal group than in the control group (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the scores were lower in the maternal group than in the control group in the following BCoS items: instant story recall, total apple deletion number, auditory attention, rule conversion, and gesture imitation (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Women in the postpartum period may develop cognitive dysfunction; however, the difference in cognitive impairment incidence between the primiparous sub-group and the second pregnancy sub-group in this study was not statistically significant. The educa-tional level, labor analgesia, and total labor time (min) were found to be influencing factors in the postpartum cognitive function decline (p < 0.05).