The impact of socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics on the prevalence of major depression in the antenatal population in the core Niger delta

Abstract

Background: Antepartum depression (APD) is also of immense concern because of its grave consequences on the mother, pregnancy outcomes, child development and the family. Its prevalence is under the influence of several factors. Aim: To determine the impact of patients’ socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics on the prevalence of major antenatal depression in Rivers State University Teaching hospital, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 163 pregnant women who were recruited via systematic random sampling in the antenatal clinic of Rivers State University Teaching Hospital over a period of 4 months. Data on socio-demographic and obstetrics characteristics of the patients were obtained with the aid of semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Screening for and diagnosis of depression was done using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 statistical software. Descriptive analysis of all the variables in the study was carried out using frequency tables and bar charts. The associations between depression during pregnancy and the independent variables (socio-demographic, gestational and obstetric characteristics) were assessed using Chi-square test or a Fisher’s exact test when the expected cell count was less than five in at least twenty percent of the cells. Level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 29.1±4.53 years with an age range of 20-40 years. Majority of the participants were married (87.1%) from monogamous families (73.6%) and had tertiary level of education (67.5%), Majority were within high social class (56.4%), and did not experience intimate partner violence (92.6%). The prevalence of depression was 44.8%. Educational level showed significant statistical relationship with antepartum depression (X2=9.773, p<0.009). APD was not shown to have significant association with the age of the mothers (X2=4.60, P<0.203) and marital status (X2=0.847, p <0.738). Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of major depression among women in the three different trimesters of pregnancy. Conclusion: The prevalence of antepartum major depression at the RSUTH, Port Harcourt in Nigeria was high. There was statistically significant differences in the prevalence of major depression among different educational categories.