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Depression, anxiety, PTSD and comorbidity in perinatal women in Turkey: A longitudinal population-based study

Dikmen-Yildiz, P., Ayers, S. & Phillips, L. (2017). Depression, anxiety, PTSD and comorbidity in perinatal women in Turkey: A longitudinal population-based study. Midwifery, 55, pp. 29-37. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2017.09.001

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: (a) to assess prevalence of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their comorbidity among women during the perinatal period (b) to examine course of those disorders from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum (c) to determine the rates of new-onset cases at 4-6 weeks and 6 months postpartum.

DESIGN: A longitudinal population-based study in which participants completed psychosocial measures of depression, anxiety and PTSD in pregnancy (n = 950), 4-6 weeks (n = 858) and 6 months (n = 829) after birth.

SETTING: A consecutive sample of pregnant women were recruited from three maternity hospitals in three cities of Turkey: Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

MEASURES: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) were used to assess depression, anxiety and PTSD, respectively.

FINDINGS: Depression and PTSD peaked at 4-6 weeks postpartum and then fell at 6 months postpartum, whereas anxiety followed a gradually declining linear-pattern from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum. The prevalence of depression was 14.6% in pregnancy, 32.6% at 4-6 weeks and 18.5% at 6 months postpartum, respectively. The prevalence of PTSD was 5.8% in pregnancy, 11.9% at 4-6 weeks postpartum and 9.2% at 6 months postpartum. Anxiety was highest in pregnancy (29.6%) and then decreased to 24.6% 4-6 weeks after birth and to 16.2% 6 months after birth. New-onset cases were most apparent at 4-6 weeks postpartum: 24.6% for depression; 13.7% for anxiety and 8.9% for PTSD. KEY

CONCLUSIONS: A relatively high prevalence of psychological disorders was identified during the perinatal period. Anxiety was most prevalent in pregnancy, and depression and PTSD were highest at 4-6 weeks postpartum. Depression was more common than anxiety 4-6 weeks and 6 months after birth and highly comorbid with anxiety throughout this period. New-onset cases were observed at both 4-6 weeks and 6 months postpartum.

IMPLICATIONS: High rates of affective disorders in pregnancy and after birth highlight three main points: first, it is important to have effective perinatal screening to identify women with psychological needs; second, providing early treatment to women experiencing severe psychological problems is essential to ensure psychological well-being of those women and to prevent chronicity; and finally, psychosocial screening and interventions should be offered until at least 6 months after birth to catch new-onset cases.

Publication Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Publisher Keywords: Perinatal mental health, depression, anxiety, PSTD, pregnancy, postpartum
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Departments: School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Midwifery & Radiography
SWORD Depositor:
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