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The interrelationship between depressive status and physical distress in Japanese postpartum women

Bulletin of health sciences Kobe

33

1-9

Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe University

2017

2018-03-27

Objective: The rate of postnatal depressive status is 9-13% in Japan. Earlier research has mainly examined the relationship between postnatal depression and psychosocial factors. The present study examined the correlations between depressive status and physical distress in Japanese new mothers at 1 month postpartum. Methods: Data were collected using questionnaires which consisted of demographics and physical distress. We used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) measured to postpartum depression. Participants were 92 new mothers at 1 month after delivery. Results: 31.8% of subjects showed depressive status. The incident rate of depressive status negatively correlated to satisfaction with support. The Marital Adjustment Test (MAT) scores differed significantly between mothers with and without postpartum depressive status. Analysis of physiological factors revealed that depressive status significantly correlated with participants’ history of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and total number of physical postpartum symptoms. Moreover, sleep satisfaction tended to be related to postpartum depressive status. Conclusion: History of PMS, number of physical symptoms, and sleep satisfaction might affect postpartum depression. This indicates a possibility of the interrelationship between depressive status and physical distress in postpartum women. Health professionals could therefore prevent postpartum depression by considering both psychological and physical aspects during provision of care.

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