Psychiatric Disorders in Pregnant and Postpartum Women in the United States
By Oriana Vesga-López, Carlos Blanco, Katherine M. Keyes, Mark Olfson, B. Grant, D. Hasin. Archives of General Psychiatry, 2008
1,051 citations recorded by the source corpus.
CONTEXT Psychiatric disorders and substance use during pregnancy are associated with adverse outcomes for mothers and their offspring. Information about the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders and substance use in this population is lacking. OBJECTIVE To examine sociodemographic correlates, rates of DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders, substance use and treatment-seeking among past-year pregnant and postpartum women in the United States. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Face-to-face interviews were conducted in the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (n = 43,093). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence of 12-month DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders, substance use, and treatment seeking. RESULTS There were no significant differences in the 12-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders between past-year pregnant (25.3%), postpartum women (27.5%), and non-pregnant women of child-bearing age (30.1%), except for the significantly higher prevalence of major depressive disorder in postpartum women (9.3%) than in non-pregnant women (8.1%) (OR 1.59, 95% CI=1.15–2.20). Past-year pregnant and postpartum women had significantly lower rates of alcohol use disorders, and any substance use, except illicit drug use, than non-pregnant women. Age, marital status, health status, stressful life events, and history of traumatic experiences were all significantly associated with higher risk of psychopathology in pregnant and postpartum women. Most women with a current psychiatric disorder did not receive any mental health care in the 12-months prior to the survey regardless of pregnancy status. CONCLUSIONS Pregnancy per se is not associated with increased risk of mental disorders, though the risk of major depressive disorder may be increased during the postpartum period. Young, unmarried women with recent stressful life events, complicated pregnancies, and poor overall health were at significantly increased risk of mental disorders during pregnancy. Low rates of maternal mental health care underscore the need to improve recognition and delivery of treatment for mental disorders occurring during pregnancy and the postpartum.
Subfields: Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/64b61b84e521364eb21321f4cbf4c875d8620e7b
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Citations in the corpus
- Postpartum depression: current status and future directions. (2013, background): “One lesson from the most recent research is that studies should be careful to control for depression risk factors when comparing prevalence rates in postpartum and nonpostpartum women (à la Vesga-López et al. 2008).”
- A systematic review and meta-regression of the prevalence and incidence of perinatal depression. (2017, background): “Three studies included data from the same sample (Le Strat et al., 2011; Mota et al., 2008; Vesga-Lopez et al., 2008); data from only one study was included, on the basis of sample age comparability to estimates from other included studies (Mota et al., 2008).”
- Onset Timing, Thoughts of Self-harm, and Diagnoses in Postpartum Women With Screen-Positive Depression Findings (2013, background): “However, recognition and treatment rates are even lower in pregnant and postpartum women (14%) than in the general population (26%).(2,3) Low treatment rates are juxtaposed against mounting evidence that antenatal and postpartum depression (PPD) increase the risk for multiple adverse outcomes among ”
- Canadian clinical practice guidelines for the management of anxiety, posttraumatic stress and obsessive-compulsive disorders (2014, background): “Although further investigation is needed, data from a large national survey suggest the overall prevalence of anxiety and related disorders is unchanged in women during pregnancy [1086]; however, other data have found an increased risk for individual disorders, such as GAD [1087,1088].”
- Sex hormones affect neurotransmitters and shape the adult female brain during hormonal transition periods (2015, background): “However, other work suggests that there is no difference in the prevalence rates of depression between pregnant and nonpregnant women (Vesga-Lopez et al., 2008).”