Sociocultural practices in Ethiopia: association with onset and persistence of postnatal common mental disorders.
BACKGROUND
Traditional perinatal practices may protect against postnatal common mental disorders (CMD) in non-Western societies.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association between perinatal practices and postnatal CMD in rural Ethiopia.


METHODS
A population-based sample of 1065 women was followed up from pregnancy until 2 months postpartum. Qualitative investigation informed the development of scales measuring attitudes towards and adherence to perinatal practices. Postnatal CMD was measured using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire.


RESULTS
Endorsement of sociocultural perinatal practices was associated with lower odds of antenatal CMD persisting into the postnatal period (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.66, 95% CI 0.45-0.95). Women who endorsed protective and celebratory perinatal practices but were unable to complete them had increased odds of incident (adjusted OR = 7.26, 95% CI 1.38-38.04) and persistent postnatal CMD (adjusted OR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.11-4.23) respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
There is evidence for an independent role of sociocultural practices in maintaining perinatal mental health in this Ethiopian community.
Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK. charlotte.hanlon@kcl.ac.uk
Charlotte
C
Hanlon
Girmay
G
Medhin
Atalay
A
Alem
Mesfin
M
Araya
Abdulreshid
A
Abdulahi
Mark
M
Tomlinson
Marcus
M
Hughes
Vikram
V
Patel
Michael
M
Dewey
Martin
M
Prince
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult