The prevalence of perinatal mental health disorders and psychosocial characteristics of women in Malta: A cross-sectional study

IF 2.5 3区医学 Q1 NURSING Birth-Issues in Perinatal Care Pub Date : 2024-01-11 DOI:10.1111/birt.12804

Rachel Buhagiar MD (Melit), MRCPsych (UK), MSc (Aust.), Kristina Bettenzana PhD (Nott), DClinPsy (Nott), Kerry-Ann Grant PhD

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Abstract

Background

Perinatal mental health disorders (PMHDs) are associated with a myriad of negative outcomes for women, infants, and the rest of the family unit. Understanding the prevalence of these conditions is important to guide prevention and treatment pathways. Indeed, the burden of PMHDs has been studied in many countries, but for Malta, an island with an annual birth rate of 4500 births, this burden is still to be determined. The main objective of this study was to address this gap, determine the prevalence of PMHDs among postpartum women in Malta, and study associated psychosocial determinants for this population.

Methods

A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted between March and April 2022 to determine the point prevalence of postpartum PMHDs in Malta. A representative, random sample of 243 postnatal mothers were recruited and screened for mental health issues using a two stage approach incorporating symptom scales and a diagnostic interview.

Results

The point prevalence of postnatal PMHDs in Malta, according to a diagnostic interview, was found to be 21.4%. Anxiety disorders were the most prevalent conditions (16.8%), followed by obsessive-compulsive disorder (6.1%) and borderline personality disorder (5.6%), respectively. A higher rate of 32.1% was identified with self-report measures.

Conclusions

PMHDs are highly prevalent, affecting approximately 20% of women in Malta across the first postnatal year. The value of this finding accentuates the need for service availability and the implementation of perinatal mental health screening programs.

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马耳他妇女围产期精神疾病的发病率和社会心理特征：一项横断面研究。

背景：围产期心理健康障碍（PMHDs）与妇女、婴儿和家庭其他成员的各种不良后果有关。了解这些疾病的发病率对于指导预防和治疗途径非常重要。事实上，许多国家都对 PMHD 的负担进行过研究，但对于马耳他这个年出生率仅为 4500 例的岛国来说，这一负担仍有待确定。本研究的主要目的是填补这一空白，确定马耳他产后妇女中 PMHD 的发病率，并研究这一人群的相关社会心理决定因素：在 2022 年 3 月至 4 月期间进行了一项横断面流行病学研究，以确定马耳他产后 PMHD 的点流行率。研究采用症状量表和诊断访谈两阶段方法，对 243 名产后母亲进行了具有代表性的随机抽样和心理健康问题筛查：结果：根据诊断访谈，马耳他产后 PMHD 的发病率为 21.4%。焦虑症是最常见的疾病（16.8%），其次分别是强迫症（6.1%）和边缘型人格障碍（5.6%）。通过自我报告措施确定的患病率较高，为32.1%：PMHD的发病率很高，马耳他约有20%的妇女在产后第一年受到影响。这一发现的价值凸显了提供服务和实施围产期心理健康筛查计划的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Birth-Issues in Perinatal Care 医学-妇产科学

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

4.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care is a multidisciplinary, refereed journal devoted to issues and practices in the care of childbearing women, infants, and families. It is written by and for professionals in maternal and neonatal health, nurses, midwives, physicians, public health workers, doulas, social scientists, childbirth educators, lactation counselors, epidemiologists, and other health caregivers and policymakers in perinatal care.