(527) Social Needs Screening and Perceived Stress Scale Scores in a Pregnant Cohort

To describe associations between selected social determinants of health and psychological stress in first trimester pregnancy.

Study Design:

Pregnant people presenting for first trimester genetic screening (10w6d-13w6d) with viable singleton pregnancies were recruited.  Those who enrolled prospectively completed the Social Needs Screening Tool (SNST) by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), as well as the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS).  Demographic data was collected by interview and cross-referenced with the electronic health records.  Exclusion criteria included age < 18 years old, incarceration, and inability to consent to the study in English.  Associations between individual social needs answers and total PSS scores were analyzed by Student’s T-test or ANOVA.

Results:

314 people were recruited from August 2021 to July 2022.  People who reported social needs related to food, housing, transportation, child care, personal safety, and finance had significantly higher PSS scores than those who denied those needs (Table 1).  In contrast, there was no statistical association with education, employment, and utilities shut off.

Conclusion:

Many social needs identified on the SNST by the AAFP are associated with increased PSS scores in a first trimester cohort.  These data can be expanded to develop interventions that best address modifiable social determinant of health while decreasing psychological stress in this population which might affect pregnancy outcome.  This is one of the first studies to validate the free and publicly available AAFP Social Needs Screening Tool with a validated stress screening survey.