[Quality of life of women depressed in the post-partum period].
BACKGROUND
Depression is common among women, specially during breeding.


OBJECTIVE
To characterize post-partum depression in a group of women attending a primary health care clinic and its relationship to quality of life.


METHODS
The sample included women meeting criteria for Major Depression, with a child of up to 11 months old. Exclusion criteria included the presence of psychosis, history of mania, alcohol abuse, illegal drug use, high suicide risk, and receiving mental health care in the last three months. Structured interviews used were the Edinburgh postpartum depression scale (EPDS), Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), Medical Outcomes Study Questionnaire (SF-36) and questions about incapacity and health care use.


RESULTS
The sample included 159 women with a median age of 27 years (range: 16-43 years). Thirty three percent were married, 30.8% lived in common law marriage, 9.4% were divorced, and 26.4% were single. Most (89.3%) were housewives, 31% were students, and 6.9% were employed. The average score on the EPDS was 17 points (S.D. 4.2). The average SF-36 somatic score was 42.7 points (S.D. 8.2), and the emotional score was 30.3 (D.S. 0.3). The relation between the average score on the EPDS and the somatic and emotional scores was statistically significant (p=0.000-0.006).


CONCLUSIONS
Most women were mildly to moderately depressed. Their depression was associated with a marked impairment of activities of daily living. These findings add to the evidence suggesting that depression is associated with marked disability cultures, even when the depression is mild to moderate.
Rojas
Graciela
G
Departamento Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Hospital Clínico, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. grojas@redclinicauchile.cl
Fritsch
Rosemarie
R
Solís
Jaime
J
González
Marcos
M
Guajardo
Viviana
V
Araya
Ricardo
R
D000328:Adult; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D017533:Marital Status; D011247:Pregnancy; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors