Depressive symptoms during the perinatal period by disability status: Findings from the United States Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System.
Jeanne L Alhusen, Rosemary B Hughes, Genevieve Lyons and 1 others
PMID 36320150WHAT IT FOUND
Women with disabilities reported depressive symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum at more than twice the rate of women without disabilities, even after adjusting for age, income, and prior depression.
Screening tools may need adaptation to ensure accessibility for this population.
Key findings
01Respondents with at least one disability had an estimated prevalence of 43.1% for depressive symptoms during pregnancy, compared to 13.5% for those with no disability.
02In the postpartum period, 33.6% of respondents with at least one disability reported depressive symptoms, compared to 12.1% of respondents with no disability.
03After adjusting for sociodemographic factors and prior depression, women with disabilities had more than double the odds of experiencing depressive symptoms during pregnancy (aOR 2.43) and postpartum (aOR 2.14).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Depressive symptoms were self-reported and not clinically diagnosed, which may lead to misclassification. The postpartum screener has moderate sensitivity (58%), suggesting the true prevalence of depression may be underestimated. Data on mental health treatment, including medication use, was limited. The study was conducted only in the United States, limiting generalizability to other contexts.
Declared interests
The research was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a negative screen for depression in a woman with disabilities means she is not depressed. The screening tools used in this study may not be accessible to all patients, and self-reported symptoms can be confused with disability-related issues like fatigue or memory problems, leading to underdiagnosis.