Japanese primary care physicians' postpartum mental health care: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background

Postpartum mental health care is a public health priority requiring interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration. Primary care physicians (PCPs) have the potential to play an essential role in facilitating access to health care and providing comprehensive and coordinated care for postpartum mental health problems. In Japan, however, there are no previous studies on the extent to which PCPs are involved in postpartum mental health care. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the practices and experiences of Japanese PCPs in providing such care.

Methods

This study presents a subset of the findings from a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire on postpartum care among Japanese PCPs. We employed descriptive analysis to examine their practices and experiences in providing general and postpartum mental health care.

Results

We received 339 valid responses from 5811 PCPs. The median proportion of the outpatients with mental health problems that PCPs regularly saw was 15%. Approximately two out of three PCPs (68.7%) reported routinely performing screening for depression and anxiety. Seventy-six percent of PCPs had the opportunity to provide care for postpartum women. Approximately one in two PCPs (47.8%) had managed cases of postpartum mental health problems and collaborated with various professionals and resources to provide care.

Conclusions

The majority of Japanese PCP participants in the study provide mental health care and have managed cases of postpartum mental health problems, collaborating with various health professionals.