screening

AHRQ Opens To Comments On Efficacy of Postpartum Depression Screening

By Katherine Stone November 14, 2011

Important alert on postpartum depression screening! The US Department of Health & Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is conducting an evidence review of the efficacy and safety of conducting postpartum depression screening and has opened comments to its “Key Questions” about this topic. The comments are open until December 6, so please be sure to add your opinions if you are an expert on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

The AHRQ explains the reason for this new evidence review of postpartum depression screening as follows:

[Read more...]

November 14, 2011 1:11 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Depression Research

Obstetricians Don't Identify Majority of Patients with Depression During Pregnancy or Postpartum

By Katherine Stone April 27, 2010

A new study published in the Journal of Women's Health finds that obstetricians are missing many cases of postpartum depression among their patients. I know this doesn't come as a surprise to most of you.

Of the 491 women who participated in the study, "23% of participants screened positive for an anxiety disorder or high levels of depressive symptoms or both prenatally, and 17% screened positive at 6 weeks postpartum. The majority of women who screened positive were not identified by their providers during pregnancy or postpartum."

The researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital concluded that "detection, treatment and referral of perinatal depression by obstetrical providers are seriously lacking and need to be addressed."

Indeed.

April 27, 2010 7:17 am Filed Under: Postpartum Depression Research

Single Screening Tool Accurately Tests for Several Mood & Anxiety Disorders

By Katherine Stone March 12, 2010

A company called M-3 Information has developed a free, online checklist that research shows can accurately indicate whether a patient may have depression, anxiety, PTSD or bipolar disorder. The study will be published in the March/April 2010 issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. The developers of theM-3state that the 27-question screening tool is private, easy to use, and does not require any personal information to be shared. Users can continue to monitor their progress by retaking the test at regular intervals. The study found:

"The M-3 is a valid, efficient and feasible tool for screening common psychiatric illnesses in primary care. Its diagnostic accuracy equals that of presently used single-disorder screens but with the additional benefit of being combined into a one-page tool. The M-3 potentially can reduce missed psychiatric diagnoses and facilitate proper treatment of identified cases."

I just tested it out and it only took 1 minute to take. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I don't believe they've tested the M-3 specifically for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. It would be interesting to hear results on that specifically.

March 12, 2010 12:34 pm Filed Under: Postpartum Depression Symptoms

Research Roundup: On Postpartum Depression, Screening, Infertility & Treatment Options

By Katherine Stone March 2, 2010

Lots of research coming out on or related toperinatal mood & anxiety disorders, including studies on the effectiveness of screening for postpartum depression twice during pregnancy, how your personality may impact whether you get PPD, how trained healthcare providers can reduce risk and how web-based support can help women going through the psychological stress of infertility:

From the British Journal of Psychiatry: "Cognitive style, personality and vulnerability to postnatal depression"

From Advances in Psychiatric Treatment: "Risks & case registers in perinatal psychiatry"(no abstract available)

From the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology: "The utility of maternal depression screening in the third trimester"

From BMJ'sEvidence-Based Mental Health: "Health visitor training reduces risk of postnatal depression 6 months after birth"

From Depression & Anxiety: "Effectiveness of therapeutic massage for generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled trial"

From the Archives of Women's Mental Health: "Web-based treatment for infertility-related psychological distress"

Note: Many of these require subscriptions to the publications, which I don't have and you probably don't either. But you can at least read the abstract and get an idea of what the research was about and what the conclusion of the studies were.

March 2, 2010 7:50 am Filed Under: Infertility, Risk Factors

NIMH Offers Healthcare Pros Downloadable Pocket Card for Suicide Assessment

By Katherine Stone February 20, 2010

Healthcare providers can follow this link to download the Suicide Assessment Five-Step Evaluation and Triage (SAFE-T) pocket card. It provides protocols for conducting a comprehensive suicide assessment, eliminating suicide risk, identifying protective factors, and developing treatment plans and interventions responsive to the risk level of patients.

February 20, 2010 9:49 am Filed Under: Postpartum Depression Symptoms

PPD Screening Cutoff Scores May Need To Vary Depending on Population

By Katherine Stone February 19, 2010

HealthDay reports that new research published online in Pediatrics finds that the cutoff scores of postpartum depression screening tools "may need to be changed to more accurately identify depression depending on the population and the screening tool used." The study focused primarily on low-income urban mothers.

"Depression is highly prevalent among low-income, black, postpartum mothers and can be identified accurately through screening with the EPDS, PDSS, or BDI-II. Depending on the population and the screening tool, practitioners may need to alter the cutoff score to identify more effectively individuals who could benefit from referral and treatment," the authors conclude.

February 19, 2010 7:49 am Filed Under: Postpartum Depression

USA Today: The Role Pediatricians Can Play When It Comes to Postpartum Depression

By Katherine Stone February 11, 2010

Liz Szabo did a nice piece in USA Today on Wednesday about the role pediatricans can play in paying attention to the health of mothers. She uses the example of new mom Tracy Hart, whose pediatrician recognized she had postpartum depression and convinced her to get help.

"Although pediatricians are trained to treat children, there are times when they also need to take care of parents, says Everett's pediatrician, Kerith Rudnicki of Atlanta. 'As a pediatrician, I can't treat the child in isolation,' says Rudnicki, who notes that new mothers make far more visits to the pediatrician than to their own doctors, especially in the first weeks after delivery. And fathers may not see a doctor at all. 'The pediatrician is the one who needs to be on the lookout for personal problems.'"

Way to go, Dr. Rudnicki! This is how it should be.

February 11, 2010 10:32 am Filed Under: PPD in the Media

On Postpartum Depression, Pediatricians & A Not-So-Trivial Pursuit

By Katherine Stone February 11, 2010

Warrior Moms are talking. Shhhh. Let's listen …

Pretty Swell Mama on how her pediatrician discovered her PPD. Great story about the importance of follow up. Way to go nurses!

The Trivial Pursuit of Happiness on knowing the signs of postpartum depression and not wasting another year (like she feels she did the first time) avoiding asking for help.(I love this piece.)

"I keep reminding myself that I lived through all of this, and that I do not have to do it again. I know too much now to ignore the signs, to think that it is okay to feel so numb and angry and scared all at the same time. There is a good chance that I won’t have to face it down again – I was fine after Ella’s birth, which was one of the reasons I was so unprepared to fight it after Alice’s – but if I do have to face PPD again, I refuse to waste my time wondering and waiting. I refuse to waste another year of our lives."

And for a super, special bonus, this blog post from Steam Me Up, Kid has nothing whatsoever to do with postpartum depression but is LAUGH OUT LOUD funny.Could you hear theloud guffawing coming from Atlanta? Sometimes a little humor helps when you have depression or anxiety. (Just wait until you get to the part with the dog pics.)

February 11, 2010 7:47 am Filed Under: Warrior Moms

Boston Globe Endorses Postpartum Depression Screening Legislation in Massachusetts

By Katherine Stone February 1, 2010

The editorial board at the Boston Globe has come out in favor of legislation that would require postpartum depression screening in Massachusetts.

"Early detection could stave off far more serious problems for mothers and their babies, whose well-being is deeply linked to the first few months of care. And universal screening would ensure that no woman falls through the cracks. The sooner new mothers can be diagnosed, the sooner they will recover."

Exactly.

February 1, 2010 9:25 am Filed Under: Postpartum Depression Symptoms

Risk Factors for Depression During Pregnancy Identified for Obstetricians

By Katherine Stone January 13, 2010

The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology's January 2010 issue published the results of a review of 57 different studies that found that risk factors may be easily identified during routine OB exams that could predict depession during pregnancy, also known as antepartum depression. The review was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan.

Medscape reports:

"Factors associated with a greater likelihood of antepartum depressive symptoms in bivariate analyses were maternal anxiety, life stress, history of depression, lack of social support, unintended pregnancy, Medicaid insurance, domestic violence, lower income, lower education, smoking, single status, and poor relationship quality …

'Future work should address how well our current obstetric screening forms capture these constructs and how we can use risk factor identification to improve screening efficiency and accuracy and to enhance our clinical assessments during pregnancy,' the study authors conclude."

Click here for more information on pregnancy and depression.