Prevalence and Predictors of Postpartum Depression Among Male Partners Who Came to Postnatal Follow-up Clinic with Their Partner in Selected Public Health Centers of Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia, 2019

BACKGROUND: Paternal postpartum depression is a serious public health problem which has a significant effect on mortality and morbidity level. Its effect is not limited to the partner, but it also affects the family, the marital relationship and development of the child. Therefore, this study was planned to assess the prevalence and predictors of paternal postpartum depression among accompanying partners in selected public health centers of Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. METHODOLOGY: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 male partners. The study was conducted in 25 randomly selected health centers and samples proportionally allocated to each health center. Finally, the study participants were selected by systematic random sampling method. The collected data were entered into EpiData version 4.2.0 and exported to IBM SPSS for further analysis. The Edinburgh postnatal depression scale was considered at a cutoff point ≥10 to detect depression. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were done. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and p-value results in multivariable logistic regression were used to declare strength and presence of association. RESULTS: Four hundred and ten partners participated in this study making a response rate of 97%. Seventy (17%) of the participants had paternal postpartum depression. Family income (AOR=3.0; 95%CI: 1.1–8.2), substance use (AOR=4.5; 95%CI: 1.5–13.3), family support (AOR=3.9; 95%CI: 1.3–11.3), marital relation (AOR=4.1; 95%CI: 1.5–11.0), unplanned pregnancy (AOR=3.5; 95%CI: 1.4–8.7) and infant sleeping problems (AOR=10.0; 95%CI: 4.1–24.0) were variables significantly associated with paternal postnatal depression.