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Development of a Prenatal Psychosocial Screening Tool for Post-Partum Depression and Anxiety
Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 05/15/2012
Clinical Article
McDonald S et al. – This research heeds the call for further development and validation work using psychosocial factors identified prenatally for identifying poor mental health in the post–partum period.
Methods- Using data from the All Babies Study, a prospective cohort study of pregnant women living in Calgary, Alberta (N = 1578), the authors developed an integer score-based prediction rule for the prevalence of PPD, as defined as scoring 10 or higher on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 4-months postpartum.
- The best fit model included known risk factors for PPD: depression and stress in late pregnancy, history of abuse, and poor relationship quality with partner.
- Comparison of the screening tool with the EPDS in late pregnancy showed that the authors' tool had significantly better performance for sensitivity.
- Further validation of the tool was seen in its utility for identifying elevated symptoms of postpartum anxiety.
