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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Postnatal depression screening in a paediatric primary care setting in Italy

Authors: Antonio Clavenna, Elena Seletti, Massimo Cartabia, Anna Didoni, Filomena Fortinguerra, Teresa Sciascia, Luca Brivio, Daniela Malnis, Maurizio Bonati, on behalf of the Postnatal Depression Study Group

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Postnatal depression is a non-psychotic depressive disorder that begins within 4 weeks of childbirth and occurs in 13% of mothers and 10% of fathers.
A prospective study with the aim to evaluate the prevalence of postnatal depression by screening parents with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in the Italian paediatric primary care setting was performed.

Methods

Mothers and fathers of infants born between 1 February and 31 July 2012, living in Italy’s Milan-1 local health unit area, represented the target population of this pilot study. Parents attending well-child visits at any of the family paediatricians’ offices between 60 to 90 days postpartum were asked to participate in the screening and to fill out the EPDS questionnaire. A cut-off score of 12 was used to identify parents with postnatal depression symptoms.
Maternal and paternal socio-demographic variables and information concerning pregnancy and delivery were also collected.
To investigate the association between screening positivity (dependent variable) and socio-demographic variables and factors related to pregnancy and delivery, a Pearson’s χ2 test was used.
Moreover, a stepwise multivariate logistic regression was carried out to evaluate the risk factors that most influence the probability of suffering from postnatal depression.

Results

In all, 126 out of 2706 (4.7%, 95% CI 3.9–5.5%) mothers and 24 out of 1420 (1.7%, 95% CI 1.0–2.4%) fathers were found to be positive for depressive symptoms. Women with mood disorders and anxiety during pregnancy were at increased risk of postpartum depression (OR 22.9, 95% CI 12.1–43.4).
Only 11 mothers (8.7%) positive to EPDS screening attended a psychiatric service, and for 8 of them the diagnosis of postnatal depression was confirmed.

Conclusions

The prevalence of postnatal depression was lower than previously reported. Routine screening resulted ineffective, since few mothers found positive for depression symptoms decided to attend psychiatric services.
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Metadata
Title
Postnatal depression screening in a paediatric primary care setting in Italy
Authors
Antonio Clavenna
Elena Seletti
Massimo Cartabia
Anna Didoni
Filomena Fortinguerra
Teresa Sciascia
Luca Brivio
Daniela Malnis
Maurizio Bonati
on behalf of the Postnatal Depression Study Group
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1205-6

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