title: Detection of postpartum depression and anxiety in a large health plan.
abstract: To determine the prevalence of diagnosed and/or treated postpartum depression and anxiety, records were extracted for 1 year after delivery from databases of outpatient diagnoses and prescriptions, for women in a health maintenance organization who had delivered a child from July 1997 through June 1998. For comparison, telephone interviews were conducted 5 to 9 months after delivery with random samples of women who delivered at 2 facilities from June 1998 through January 1999. Of the women interviewed, 11% met criteria for major depression during the first 4 months postpartum, and an additional 13% met criteria for probable depression at 5 to 9 months postpartum. In contrast 7.0% of the large cohort had a visit or prescription for depression. The 1-year prevalence rate for diagnosed and/or treated anxiety without depression was 3.8%; the rate at time of interview was 14.7%. Overall, less than 33% of women with substantial depression or anxiety symptoms were detected.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612, USA. aoc@dor.kaiser.org
authors.forename: Ashley O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Coates
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.forename: Jeanne L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Alexander
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents