Healthy start screens for depression among urban pregnant, postpartum and interconceptional women

Objective: To examine perinatal depression in north and northeast Omaha, NE. Methods: The records of a sample of 119 randomly selected clients from Omaho Healthy Start (OHS) were reviewed. Three screening instruments were employed to identify women with depression: they were asked whether they were depressed (DQ); they received the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) and/or the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: The number of women with depressive symptoms identified by each technique varied from: DQ (16.8%), EPDS (16%) and BDI (7.6%). The three methods identified three subpopulations of women with different maternal and child health risk profiles reflected by their responses on an OHS-developed Maternal and child Health Risk Assessment Tool (OHS MCH/RAT). Conclusion: In combination, these simple techniques identified depressed women with different risk profiles who would have been missed using a single approach exclusively.