Assessment of Postpartum Depression and Anxiety among Females Attending Primary Health Care Facilities in Qaliubeya Governorate, Egypt

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a mood disorder that begins after childbirth and usually lasts beyond six weeks; depression is often comorbid with anxiety. The main objectives of this work were to measure the prevalence of postpartum depression and/or anxiety among females in the Qaliubeya governorate to explore the underlying factors of these disorders and find if progesterone level has a role. A crosssectional study was conducted upon 500 postpartum females attending primary health care facilities in the Qaliubeya governorate. Data were collected by an interview questionnaire which included data about sociodemographic, obstetric, and past history and the Arabic version of DASS for assessment of postpartum depression and/or anxiety. The results showed 1.6% of the studied females suffered postpartum depression alone, 10% suffered from anxiety alone, and 21.2% suffered from both. The mean age of female who suffered from comorbid depression and anxiety was significantly (p=0.01) higher than the normal group (26.9 and 25.1, respectively), and they had a significantly lower socioeconomic score than the normal ones (31.1 and 34.1, respectively), p < 0.05. There was a significant association (p < 0.001) between the past history of similar conditions and the current prevalence of postpartum disorders. ROC curve analysis showed that the progesterone level ≤4.6, ≤11.3, and ≤2.8 significantly predict depression alone, anxiety alone, and comorbid diseases, respectively. It was concluded that postpartum depression and/or anxiety affect 32.8% of females in the Qaliubeya governorate. Very low socioeconomic level, lower educational levels, past history of similar conditions, and low progesterone level are the significant predictors.