A comparative study of postnatal depression and associated factors in Gauteng and Free State provinces, South Africa

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title A comparative study of postnatal depression and associated factors in Gauteng and Free State provinces, South Africa
 
Creator Mokwena, Kebogile Modjadji, Perpetua
 
Subject Family medicine; primary health care; primary care postnatal depression; Edinburgh postnatal depression scale; free state; Gauteng; South Africa.
Description Background: The factors contributing to probable postnatal depression (PND), a type of clinical depression that can affect woman after childbirth, are socially derived. Therefore, variations among groups of women necessitate studies in different communities.Aim: This study compared the prevalence of PND and associated factors among women attending postnatal services facilities.Setting: The study setting included Tshwane Municipal district in Gauteng province (GP) and Fezile Dabi District (FS) in Free State province (FSP), South Africa.Methods: A total of 477 mothers within 12 weeks of giving birth were recruited by convenient sampling in health facilities. A self-developed questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographics, obstetric history, and children’s characteristics. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to collect data on depression symptoms, with a score of ≥ 13 used as a cut-off for probable PND. Data were analysed using STATA 14. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine association between probable PND and various covariates.Results: The overall mean age of women was 28 ± 6 years. The overall prevalence rate of PND was 22%, slightly higher in FS (23%) than in GP (21%). Most participants living in GP were married, had tertiary education, were employed and from the households with income of more than R8000.00. A chi-square test showed that planned pregnancy was significantly higher in GP compared with FS (p ≤ 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that support from a partner or husband decreased the odds of a probable PND in GP (adjusted odd ratio [AOR] 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI] [95%CI: 0.14–0.96; p = 0.041] and in the FS [AOR = 0.14, 95%CI: 0.05–0.40; p ≤ 0.001]). Significant associations of probable PND with several factors – planned pregnancy, baby age, support in difficult times, partner or husband drinking alcohol and stressful events – were more common in the FSP than in the GP.Conclusion: The prevalence of probable PND and its associated risk factors in the GP and the FS indicates the need for routine screening and targeted interventions in both urban and rural settings.Contribution: The results confirm that the prevalence of PND is similar in both rural and urban areas, and that pregnancy planning remains a challenge in the FS, which calls for increased efforts to revive family planning programmes in primary health care facilities.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor South African Medical Research Council National Research Foundation
Date 2022-09-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — quantitative research; survey
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/phcfm.v14i1.3031
 
Source African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 14, No 1 (2022); 11 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3031/5688 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3031/5689 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3031/5690 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/3031/5691
 
Coverage South Africa; Free State; Gauteng — child-bearing; age; clinic attendees
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Kebogile Mokwena, Perpetua Modjadji https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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