Perinatal depression physical symptoms assessment using PHQ9

• Author Details:   
• Anupama Reddy Korlakunta ^*
• Sangeeta Shah
• Dimple Guasa
• Srija Avula
• Koshika Maurya

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Background: Perinatal depression is found in ten to twenty percent of women, which is defined as depression in women during pregnancy or in the postnatal period up to 12 months postpartum (Woody et al. 2017). Untreated depression is linked to long-term consequences for the mother, child, and family as well as unfavorable foetal and neonatal outcomes (Yeaton-Massey and Herrero, 2019). When evaluating depression using the EPDS, psychological symptoms could be more significant, while evaluating depression using the PHQ-9, physical symptoms might have a greater impact. In the present study the physical symptoms of perinatal depression is assessed among pregnant and nursing mothers using PHQ 9 in hospital setting.
Materials and Methods: The study was a prospective, single-center cross sectional research carried out with IEC approval at the GMCH, Secunderabad, TS, and India. The pregnant and new mothers attending Obstetrics and Gynecology outpatient and admitted to inpatient ward in GMCH were contacted and explained about the proposed research and those who are willing to participate and gave informed consent were included in the study. The total participants (N= 122) completed the standardized Telugu version of nine item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) with Chronbach’s alpha of 0.9. The data was analysed to examine the levels of PND among the sample and the association between the predictor variables studied and perinatal depression.
Results:   The results of the study showed that minimal (90.2%), mild (5.7%) to moderate (2.5%) levels of perinatal depression was found among the sample. There was significant association found between Perinatal depression and; locality (p=0.01), education of mother (p=0.01), occupation (0.10) and husband’s age (0.10).
Conclusion: The pregnant and nursing mothers in the perinatal period need to be screened for depression in hospital setting using PHQ9 for early intervention and treatment to alleviate the problems related to PND on mother and children.

Keywords: Perinatal depression Pregnancy Postnatal period PHQ-9, Psychological symptoms, Physical symptoms Maternal mental health, Obstetrics, Gynecology screening