Postpartum depression and perceived stress among Tunisian parturient

Abstract

Introduction The postpartum depressions (PPD), rank first postpartum complications and therefore pose a public health problem by their frequencies and their adverse consequences. Objectives To detect the depression among a Tunisian parturient, to evaluate their perceived stress and to study the link between these entities Methods A cross-sectional, analytical study of 40 first week postpartum women hospitalized in the gynecology department in Hedi Cheker hospital in Sfax-Tunisia, during the month of September 2019. We used the Arab version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Cohen perceived stress scale (PSS). Results The average age of the participants was 31.07 years old. The Parturient have a rural origin in 62.5% of cases, they have a secondary school level in 52.5% of cases. There were exaggerated sympathetic signs in 52.5% of the cases. An organic pathologies were present during pregnancy in 47.5%. The postpartum period was simple in 77.5% of cases. For the post-natal period, 90% of parturient were going to receive help of a family member. EPDS: the average score was5.35 and the risk of developing a PPD was 20%. PSS we found that life represents a perpetual threat in 27% of cases. The factors correlated with the PPD were: a high level of perceived stress (p < 0.00) and organic pathology during pregnancy (p=0.02). Conclusions Our study shows that the risk of postpartum depression is high among Tunisian parturient and it is associated with high level of stress, because of this a precocious screening is necessary. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Keywords

• parturient
• post partum
• Depression
• stress