Comparison of Cognitive Function in Different Trimesters of Pregnancy

Although pregnancy is a normal function in women, it is considered as a stressful experience which is associated with many psychological and physical changes in pregnant women.

This study aims to investigate and compare cognitive function in different trimesters of pregnancy.

This was a longitudinal cohort study. Participants were 76 pregnant women with a mean age of 30.09±6.23 years referred to Al-Zahra Hospital in Rasht, Iran during 2019-2020. Participants were assessed in three trimesters of pregnancy using the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) and Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). The multilevel mixed-effects linear regression and repeated measures ANOVA were used for data analysis. All analyses were done in SPSS software v. 19 and Stata v. 14.

The mean score of WMS was significantly lower in the third trimester (84.95±12.07) than in the first and second trimesters (89.34±13.13 and 88.72±13.24, respectively) (P=0.001). The results of linear regression analysis showed no significant difference in MMSE score between different trimesters of pregnancy (P>0.05), while the WMS score was significantly different between different pregnancy trimesters; the change in WMS score was statistically significant only in the third trimester (P= 0.04).

No impairment in general cognitive function occur during pregnancy, but memory impairment may occur. In the third trimester, pregnant women have the poorest memory function.