Symptoms of depressive disorders in perinatal period in Latvian women

Evaluating prevalence of symptoms of depressive disorders in Latvian women in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy and postpartum period with Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) screening tool. The study has been implemented within the framework of the Latvian Council of Sciences project Nr.lzp-2019/1-0335. It is a cross-sectional study of Latvian pregnant women and women until 7th day post-partum, who consented to participating in a personal interview survey. In 2020, 287 women were interviewed. Data were analysed by IBM SPSS program. In total, 283 women answered the PHO-2 screening test, 10% of those had scored three or more points, thus indicating for possible depressive disorder, and would require further assessment. Only 11% of these women said their symptoms did not affect their daily functions and interaction with other people. In women who screened positive, the mean age was 31 (SD 6); the median income per household was EUR 1500 (IQR 1200 to 1500); nationality: Latvian - 75 %, Russian - 18%, other - 7%; marital status: married - 68%, partnership - 28 %, and divorced - 4%; mode of delivery: vaginal birth - 61%, instrumental vaginal delivery - 4%, and Caesarean section - 35%; gestation week at time of delivery: <37 GW - 4%, 37-40 GW - 69%, and >41 GW - 27%. No statistically significant correlation with age, income, marital status, and time or mode of delivery was found. The prevalence of symptoms of depressive mood disorders in perinatal period is noteworthy. PHQ-2 is a simple and fast screening tool that can be used routinely by medical professionals involved in perinatal care. The limitation of study is the small sample of respondents with depressive disorder symptoms.