"Negative Impacts of Gestational Depression on Quality of Life"

Abstract

Background: Perinatal depression, and particularly gestational depression, is an important and highly neglected public health problem. We have now a large body of evidence showing the negative impacts of depressive symptoms on quality of life (QoL) but very little is known about the association of gestational depression and QoL. Methods: In this study we evaluated the impact of gestational depression (GD) on quality of life. We assessed 252 women in the second trimester of pregnancy using an abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire and the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview for depression diagnosis. Results: In our sample, 20.6% (n= 52) were diagnosed with depression. We compared sociodemographic and clinical data and QoL domains of the two groups (with/without depression) using Chi-square tests, or Fisher's exact test, for categorial variables and Analyses of Variance for continuous variables. The results showed that depressed women scored significantly lower on all QoL domains, when compared with the group of non-depressed women. Conclusion: In summary, prior and current depression are associated with worse quality of life. We suggest that clinicians should address not only depressive symptoms but also quality of life dimensions which include basic human needs such as life satisfaction and living conditions.