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Prevalence and risk factors for a high level of postnatal depression symptomatology in Italian women: A sample drawn from ante-natal classes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Pietro Grussu  and
Rosa Maria Quatraro
Pietro Grussu*
Affiliation:
National Health Service, Azienda ULSS 17 Este, Consultorio Familiare Unit, Italy Department of Gynaecology and Human Reproduction Sciences, University of Padua, Italy
Rosa Maria Quatraro
Affiliation:
National Health Service, Azienda ULSS 6 Vicenza, Hospital Psychology Unit, Gynaecology and Obstetrics Section, Vicenza and Noventa Vicentina Hospital, Italy
*
*Corresponding author at: National Health Service, Azienda ULSS 17 Este, Consultorio Familiare Unit, Via Settabile n.39, I-35042 Este (PD), Italy. Tel./fax: +39 0429 618309. E-mail address: pgruss@tin.it (P. Grussu).
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Abstract

Background

Depression after childbirth is a major problem affecting 10–22% of all mothers. In Italy, postnatal depression has not yet been systematically studied.

Methods

In this retrospective study we have sought to identify risk factors, assessed during pregnancy, and their importance for postnatal depression symptoms in a sample of 297 Italian women attending ante-natal classes organised by the local Consultorio Familiare Unit of the National Health Service, Italy. The Postpartum Depression Predictors Inventory – revised form (PDPI-Revised), was used to identify risk factors, 8–9 month of pregnancy. A double-test strategy using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12), was administered to screen women with a higher occurrence of symptoms of postnatal depression six–eight weeks after delivery. Women with high EPDS (<8) and high GHQ12 (<3) scores were compared with those who had scored below the EPDS and/or GHQ12 threshold scores.

Results

We found that 13% of the women studied showed high postnatal depressive symptomatology, which is very similar to rates of prevalence of postnatal depression in the first year after the birth of the child reported in other Western World studies. Feeling anxious during pregnancy is a strong predictor of high symptoms of depression at 6–8 weeks after delivery. However, University education and friends' support appear to be important protective factors.

Conclusion

These findings could be useful both for Italian health professionals and for researchers interested in the transcultural aspects of postnatal depression.

Keywords

Postpartum depressionPostnatal depressionPostpartum depressionPredictors Inventory – revisedEdinburgh Postnatal Depression ScaleGeneral Health Questionnaire
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 24 , Issue 5 , June 2009 , pp. 327 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2009

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