The prevalence of depressive symptoms in the postnatal period in Lalitpur district, Nepal

Background. Mental disorders are highly prevalent across different cultures and are often associated with serious role impairment. In developing countries, more than three-quarters of people with serious mental disease do not receive any treatment. Identifying and treating maternal depression is important also in Nepal, where suicide is the second largest cause of deaths among women of reproductive age. The emotional, cognitive, and physical development of the infant is also negatively influenced by maternal depression. Objectives. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among mothers 5-10 weeks after delivery in a clinical, a rural, and an urban population in Lalitpur district, Nepal. Methods. A total of 426 postnatal women were included in a cross-sectional structured interview study of mental health. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and mental distress by the Self Report Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20). Results. The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms in the postnatal period (defined as EPDS > 12) was 4.9% (95% CI 2.9-7.0). The prevalence of mental distress (defined as SRQ-20 > 10) was 3.1% (95% Cl 1.4-4.7). There were no significant differences in prevalences among the three populations studied. Conclusions. The prevalence of depressive symptoms in the postnatal period was lower than previously reported from Nepal. The value of possible protective and precipitating factors needs to be explored.