An epidemiological study on depression among women during postpartum period in an urban slum of Bhubaneswar.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Depression accounts for the greatest burden of all mental health problems, and is expected to become the second-highest among all health problems by 2020. Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major public health problem with a peak incidence at 4-6 weeks postpartum, affecting 22% of women within a year of childbirth in India. It has an impact on the mother, her partner, the family, mother-baby bonding and the long-term emotional and cognitive development of the baby. The aim of the study was to: 1.To find out the prevalence of depression among women during the postpartum period 2.To identify the factors associated with depressive symptoms among them.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban slum of Bhubaneswar from July 2017 to January 2018, among a sample of 60 postnatal mothers who had delivered in the last six months; selected by simple random sampling technique. Edinburgh Postnatal depression scale (EPDS) was used to identify mothers at risk of postnatal depression. A score of ≥13 was considered as positive for depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

The prevalence of PPD was found to be 8.57%. Religion was found to be a statistically significant factor associated with PPD. Other factors like literacy status, socio-economic status, high parity, sex of the newborn, mode of delivery were also found to have an association with PPD.

CONCLUSION

This study identified certain socio-demographic and obstetric risk factors for postnatal depressive symptoms in a community setting of an urban slum; screening of risk factors will help in designing preventive strategies for identifying PPD.