OBJECTIVES:
To
measure the
prevalence of
postpartum depression among
women attending postnatal clinics in Kingston,
Jamaica, and to determine the
risk factors associated with the occurrence of
postpartum depression in this
population. SUBJECTS AND
METHODS:
This study was cross-sectional, and surveyed 132
women. The
survey was conducted among postnatal
women who attended the postnatal clinic at the
Victoria Jubilee
Hospital (VJH), the
University Hospital of
West Indies and several
government health centres in Kingston during the months of JulySeptember 2015. The
survey instrument was a field tested
interviewer-assisted
questionnaire to which the
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was incorporated to indicate the presence of
depressive symptoms among the
respondents.
RESULTS:
The
prevalence of
postpartum depression among the
women in this study is estimated to be 47.7%.
Mothers who had a
life event with a significant negative impact were 2.7 times more likely to have
postpartum depressive symptoms than those
who did not (OR = 2.7; 95% CI 1.02,7.17; p = 0.046), and
mothers who were unemployed were 60% more likely to develop
postpartum depressive symptoms than those
who were employed (OR = 1.60; 95% CI1.17, 2.18; p = 0.003).
CONCLUSION:
The
prevalence of
postpartum depressive symptoms in the Jamaican
population of
postpartum women in this study is higher than previous estimates andhigher than the
World Health Organization estimates(2015). Studies should be undertaken with larger
sample sizes to unearth further
risk factors that may predispose
women to
postpartum depressive symptoms in
Jamaica.