Depression is prevalent postpartum and is a major health problem. In this study we aimed to evaluate how precise the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is in screening for depressive disorders postpartum. A random sample of 94 pregnant women was interviewed two weeks postpartum using the Composite International Diagnostics Interview Short Form (CIDI - SF) and filled in the EPDS. We evaluated:
a. internal consistency of the EPDS by the means of Cronbach's alpha coefficient;
b. area under the ROC curve, sensitivity, specificity of the EPDS against the CIDI-SF diagnoses of depressive disorders.
The internal consistency of the EPDS was at a level of 0.83. The optimal cutoff score of the EPDS for screening CIDI-SF diagnoses of depressive disorders was found to be 7 and more with area under the ROC curve at a level of 0.83, sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 73%. The EPDS has a good reliability for a screening instrument and has to be used a cutoff score of 7 and more for screening of depressive disorders postpartum.