Proportion of Depression Among Pregnant Women Seeking Antenatal Care at a Primary Health Center in South India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30834/KJP.38.1.2025.483Keywords:
Antenatal depression, Risk factors, EPDS, Primary careAbstract
Background: Depression in the antenatal period can have serious repercussions for both the mother and child. There is a paucity of community studies in the area of antenatal depression in the state of Kerala. This study was carried out to find out the prevalence of antenatal depression and to explore the correlates of depressive symptoms with social and clinical variables in antenatal women attending a primary health center in Pangappara, Thiruvananthapuram.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 175 antenatal women attending antenatal clinics at the primary health center Pangappara, under the medical college health unit area, Thiruvananthapuram. Socio-demographic and clinical details were recorded using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Antenatal women were assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale questionnaire to detect depressive symptoms. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Pearson's Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used for the comparison of categorical variables between groups.
Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms according to EPDS was found to be 18.85%. Past history of psychiatric illness and history suggestive of premenstrual syndrome were found to have a statistically significant association with depressive symptoms on binary logistic regression analysis (p<0.005).
Conclusion: The proportion of antenatal depression was found to be relatively high. Clinical factors like a history suggestive of premenstrual syndrome and a past history of psychiatric illness were found to be significant risk factors for antenatal depression.
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