Mental Health Diagnoses on the Mini International Psychiatric Interview Are Associated With Higher Scores on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

Objective

To understand if Mini International Psychiatric Interview (MINI) scores in pregnancy are associated with higher scores on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).

Design

Cross-sectional pilot study of participants who completed the EPDS during pregnancy and were then invited to complete the MINI.

Setting/Local Problem

An urban outpatient clinic at an academic medical setting from November 2020 to June 2021.

Participants

Convenience sample of 20 pregnant people.

Intervention/Measurements

Analysis of variance was used to examine differences based on EPDS scores and MINI symptom burden. Nonparametric tests (Mann–Whitney U or Kruskal–Wallis test) were used if assumptions were violated. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample characteristics.

Results

Nine participants screened 9 or higher on the EPDS and completed the MINI. There were no significant differences in demographic variables by EPDS score. There were significant differences between demographic variables, including employment status (p = .003) and type of health insurance (p = .019), between participants who met criteria for at least one diagnosis on the MINI and those who did not. Participants with public health insurance met the criteria for four more diagnoses compared to people with private insurance. Participants not employed full-time had nearly five more diagnoses compared to those employed full-time. Higher EPDS scores were correlated with all measured MINI symptoms or diagnoses. Higher EPDS scores were significantly correlated with and showed a moderate to strong positive correlation to suicidality and antisocial personality disorder.

Conclusion

Pregnant individuals who score 9 or higher on the EPDS may also have other severe mental health diagnoses. Recognizing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in this population can inform the development of screening protocols and interventions during pregnancy to improve maternal access to mental health treatment and symptom reduction.