Depression and risk factors for depression among mothers of sick infants in Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

Objective To describe the prevalence of and risk factors for depression in a high-risk population of mothers of ill newborns in Ghana. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with women who had a hospitalized newborn at a tertiary teaching hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Surveys included information on maternal demographics, pregnancy and delivery, interpersonal violence, and social support. Postpartum depression was measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9. Bivariable analysis was conducted using analysis of variance, χ2, and Fisher exact tests; multivariable analysis was performed using multinomial logistic regression. Results In total, 153 women completed the survey. Fifty (32.7%) had PHQ-9 scores of 5–9, indicating mild depression; 42 (27.4%) had PHQ-9 scores of 10–14, indicating moderate depression; and 15 (9.8%) had scores of 15 or higher, indicative of moderate/severe depression. History of interpersonal violence with current partner predicted depression. Conclusion Mothers of sick infants in Ghana are at high risk for symptoms of clinical depression. This is of critical importance because maternal depression affects infant health outcomes and may be particularly important for mothers of sick infants.

Magnitude and risk factors for postpartum symptoms: A literature review

“…Immigrants have high postpartum depression prevalence of 0.5-65.0% in Western and nonWestern countries (Pearlstein et al, 2009;Le et al, 2010;Chien et al, 2012;Hung et al, 2012;Lucero et al, 2012). Postpartum depression was reported to be 7-70% in mothers of ill newborn (de Alencar et al, 2009;Lefkowitz et al, 2010;Gold et al, 2013;Guo et al, 2013), 13% in mothers of preterm infants (Korja et al, 2008) and 23.5% in mothers of infantile colic infants (Akman et al, 2006). Among military women, 13% and 11% of mothers have positive screening for postpartum depression at two weeks and six weeks, respectively (Rychnovsky and Beck, 2006).…”

The expression of perinatal depression in rural Ghana

“…Infants of depressed mothers show impaired maternal-child interactions, lower cognitive development, more behavioral problems, and a higher risk of psychiatric disorders during adolescent years than those of non-depressed mothers (Grote et al, 2010). In Ghana, research has shown that PND is prevalent and has adverse infant outcomes (Gold, Spangenberg, Wobil, & Schwenk, 2013; Okronipa et al, 2012; Weobong et al, 2009). A study conducted in our study area of Kintampo North and South districts in 2005 (Weobong et al, 2009) estimated the prevalence of post-partum depression to be 11.3%, which does not include depression during pregnancy but only depression rates in the year after birth.…”

Determinants of Postnatal Depression in Rural Ghana: Findings From the Don Population Based Cohort Study

“…[14,15] The third was a population-based validation study to adapt three screening instruments for measuring postnatal CMD. Two of these were conducted within clinical settings, used relatively small sample sizes, and both reported PND prevalence estimates of 10%.…”

“…Two of these were conducted within clinical settings, used relatively small sample sizes, and both reported PND prevalence estimates of 10%. [14,15] The third was a population-based validation study to adapt three screening instruments for measuring postnatal CMD. [16] In this paper, we report findings on determinants of PND in a large population based cohort study in rural Ghana, and examine whether women with onset of PND differ from those who were also depressed during pregnancy.…”