Zhao CY, Peng XC, Liu ZH, Yin J, Zhao L. Psychological distress and pelvic floor dysfunction in postpartum women: Associations with anxiety, perceived stress, and sexual health. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(10): 119636 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.119636]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Cong-Ying Zhao, MD, Department of Ultrasound Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 215 Heping West Road, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang 050005, Hebei Province, China. congyingzcy@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
research-article
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Share the Article
Zhao CY, Peng XC, Liu ZH, Yin J, Zhao L. Psychological distress and pelvic floor dysfunction in postpartum women: Associations with anxiety, perceived stress, and sexual health. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(10): 119636 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.119636]
World J Psychiatry. Oct 19, 2026; 16(10): 119636 Published online Oct 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.119636
Psychological distress and pelvic floor dysfunction in postpartum women: Associations with anxiety, perceived stress, and sexual health
Cong-Ying Zhao, Xian-Chai Peng, Zhen-Hong Liu, Jing Yin, Li Zhao
Cong-Ying Zhao, Jing Yin, Li Zhao, Department of Ultrasound Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050005, Hebei Province, China
Xian-Chai Peng, Department of Obstetrics, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050005, Hebei Province, China
Zhen-Hong Liu, Department of Psychiatry, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050005, Hebei Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Cong-Ying Zhao and Li Zhao.
Author contributions: Zhao CY and Zhao L conceived and designed the study, they contributed equally as co-corresponding authors of this study; Zhao CY, Peng XC, and Yin J were responsible for participant recruitment, data collection, and clinical assessment; Liu ZH provided psychiatric expertise, contributed to the psychological assessment framework, and participated in the interpretation of mental health–related data; Peng XC and Yin J performed the statistical analysis; Zhao CY drafted the initial manuscript; Zhao L critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; all authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Supported by 2023 Hebei Province Medical Research Project Plan, No. 20230070.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement- checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: No available data.
Corresponding author: Cong-Ying Zhao, MD, Department of Ultrasound Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 215 Heping West Road, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang 050005, Hebei Province, China. congyingzcy@163.com
Received: March 27, 2026 Revised: April 27, 2026 Accepted: May 22, 2026 Published online: October 19, 2026 Processing time: 196 Days and 23.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Postpartum pelvic floor dysfunction mainly presents with a mixture of physiological changes and severe psychological problems; anxious reactions arising from mothers’ overly intense self-assessment have also appeared. The burden of pelvic floor symptoms is positively correlated with the degree of psychological problems; therefore, patients presenting with more severe pelvic floor symptoms will have higher levels of anxiety or depression. Poor quality of sleep and a lack thereof also contribute to this problem; thus, they are essential moderators. The above data show that integrating regular psychological screening content in the postpartum period of pelvic-facility-follow-up programme for women will not only help them recover health comprehensively but also improve their overall quality of life.
