Fatigue and Depression from Early Postpartum to 1 Month among Postpartum Women with Mental Disorders
Some studies have shown that early
postpartum is a period when fatigue is likely to occur due to burden of
childbirth and child rearing, and particularly women with mental disorders
suffer from fatigue more severely than other pregnant women and this seems to
be the cause of their depressed state. This study aimed to ascertain the
prevalence of fatigue and depression from early postpartum to 1 month after
delivery among postpartum women with mental disorders.
The participants of
this study were postpartum women who had delivered a child after a full-term
pregnancy and were suffering from a mental disorder. The authors administered
the Postpartum Fatigue Scale (PFS) on days 1, 3, and 4 (to multiparas), and 1,
3, and 5 (to primiparas), and 1 month after delivery to all participants. The
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Japanese version, was also
administered at the same time intervals as PFS except on day 3 after delivery.
A total of 7
primiparas and 9 multiparas participated in this study. The average age was
29.0 ± 7.0 years old in primiparas and 32.0 ± 4.0 years old in multiparas. The
PFS scores were higher among the primiparas and peaked at day 1, and more than
half the primiparas scored more than 9 points in EPDS. In addition, the EPDS
score at 1 month had a strong correlation with the PFS subscale “mental stress
situation” (r = 0.818/p = 0.047). In multiparas, the percentage of
women who scored more than 9 points decreased. However, their EPDS scores at 1
month were related to the total scores of the PFS, “physical stress situation”, “mental
stress situation”, and “sleep deprivation situation”. Especially, the
score of “sleep deprivation situation” was higher than those during
hospitalization.
In conclusion, there was more fatigue 1 month after the discharge among postpartum
women with mental disorders. The percentage of women whose EPDS scores were
more than 9 points was high in both primiparas and multiparas. This study
suggests assisting primiparas and multiparas by controlling the former’s
disorder during childcare, and using family support for the latter, so that
they get time to rest.
Article by Nozomi Detsuka, et al, from
Japan.
Full access: http://mrw.so/16cHui
Image by Dimagi images, from Flickr-cc.
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