Proportion and Predictors of Postpartum Depression among Women Attending Fayoum University Hospitals, Egypt

Abstract

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major depressive disorder with possible long-term consequences on the mother and her infant. Objective: The aim of the current study is to assess the proportion of postpartum depression and its contributing factors among women who give birth and seek medical care at Fayoum University Hospitals. Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 postpartum women (1-6 months following delivery) who visited Obstetrics-Gynecology, Family Planning, Family Medicine, and Pediatric Clinics at Fayoum University Hospital (FUH) in Fayoum Governorate, Egypt. For data collection, the Arabic version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used for PPD screening, socio-demographic characteristics of the participants were collected by a pre-designed structured questionnaire. Results: PPD was found in 39.5% of the studied women. The multivariate analysis showed that postpartum depression was significantly associated with the educational level, with higher levels of education associated with a decreased likelihood of depression with odds ratio (OR) 0.437 (95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.248 -0.768). Female residents of rural areas were more likely to be depressed than females of urban areas, having OR 1.8 (95%CI 1.10-2.98). The female sex of the infant was shown to be a risk factor for PPD with OR 1.76 (95%CI 1.12-2.75), and the women who were not employed had a reduced risk of depression than those who were employed, with OR 0.384 (95%CI 0.233-0.632). Conclusion: PPD is a considerable and existing problem among the study group. Many factors may cause PPD to occur. Early detection of such factors can help in early detection of postpartum depression.