Abstract
Objective
To examine the utility of the Healthy Start Screen (HSS), which is an assessment of health, environment, and behavioral risk factors offered to all pregnant women in the state of Florida, in identifying women at risk for developing postpartum depression (PPD).
Methods
The sample for this Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved, retrospective study consisted of patients who presented to a women’s clinic for a new prenatal visit. Those patients who completed both the HSS at their prenatal visit and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at their postpartum visit were included. We focused on items 1–10 of the HSS, where patients could respond with either “yes” or “no”, and identified a positive EPDS as any score greater than or equal to 12.
Results
Women who identified as feeling down, depressed or hopeless, feeling alone when facing problems, to having ever received mental health services, or to having any trouble paying bills were more likely to have an EPDS score greater than or equal to 12.
Conclusion
The HSS, currently mandated by the state of Florida to be offered to all pregnant women, is a useful tool for identifying women at increased risk of developing PPD.
Research funding: None declared.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval: The study protocol was approved by the local institutional review board (IRB #201800695).
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/jpm-2019-0472).
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