title: Postpartum depression and psycho-socio-demographic predictors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There appears to be a growing international recognition of postpartum depression as a significant public health concern. This paper determined the prevalence and psycho-socio-demographic predictors of postpartum depression symptomatology and its constancy over 12-week postpartum in Mazandaran province Iranian women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and General Health Questionnaire were used to identify possible health and depression status in a cohort of 1,950 eligible pregnant women who attended primary health centers from January to June 2010, at 2 and 12 weeks postpartum. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of postpartum depression among women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence of continued depression was found to be 9.9% on all three assessments. A mother's psychological distress, experience of depression, and anxiety in the first and second trimester of pregnancy and a family history of depression were the characteristics that had the strongest significant association with the development of postpartum depression. Women who married at a younger age also were more prone to postpartum depression development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One in ten depressed women in this study continued to be depressed over the 12-week postpartum period. Interventions should target women with the greatest risk, especially those with psychological distress during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abdollahi
authors.forename: Shariff-Ghazali
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Sazlina
authors.forename: Azhar Md
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zain
authors.forename: Mehran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zarghami
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asghari Jafarabadi
authors.forename: Munn-Sann
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lye
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; depression; postpartum prevalence; risk factor