Are you often sad and depressed? Brief measures to identify women at risk for depression in pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to test brief depression screening measures as an initial step to identify women at risk for depression in pregnancy.


METHODS
Psychometric theory and a prospective correlational research design with a convenience sample of 130 low-income women guided this study. Measurements included (a) single-item depression-screening measures, (b) a two-item depression screening measure, (c) the Brief Depression Screen (BDS), and (d) the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), a standardized measure of self-reported depression that has been used widely in pregnancy.


RESULTS
Depressive symptoms in pregnancy among these low-income women were 27% (35/128) as determined by a score of 16 or greater on the BDI-II. The two-item depression screening measure, "Are you often sad and depressed?" and "Have you had a loss of pleasurable activities?" had a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 52%, whereas the BDS measure had sensitivity of 53% and specificity of 80%.


CONCLUSIONS
Asking the two-item screening questions could be an essential first step in determining which women should receive further evaluation and interventions aimed at treating depression during pregnancy.
Jesse
D Elizabeth
DE
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA. jessed@mail.ecu.edu
Graham
Marilyn
M
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000523:psychology; D016389:Maternal-Child Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data