Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T12:14:05.810Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Postpartum psychiatric illness in Arab culture: Prevalence and psychosocial correlates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

R. Ghubash  and
M. T. Abou-Saleh
R. Ghubash*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
M. T. Abou-Saleh
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
*
Professor M. T. Abou-Saleh, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Fax: 00971-3-620188
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

There have been numerous studies of the prevalence of postpartum depression and its putative risk factors in Western Europe and North America, but very few studies in developing countries including the Arab world.

Method

Ninety-five women admitted to the New Dubai Hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for childbirth were studied. All subjects were assessed in the postpartum period using clinical and socio-cultural instruments: the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) at day 2, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at day 7, and the Present State Examination (PSE) at week 8 ± 2 and week 30 ± 2 after delivery.

Results

The prevalence rate of psychiatric morbidity was 24.5% by the SRQ, 17.8% by the EPDS, and 15.8% by the PSE. A number of psychosocial factors emerged as putative risk factors for postpartum depression.

Conclusions

The prevalence rates of postpartum psychiatric morbidity and its risk factors in this Arab culture are similar to the results obtained in numerous previous studies in industrialised countries. These findings have implications for the early detection and care of women at risk for postpartum depression.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 171 , Issue 1 , July 1997 , pp. 65 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abou-Saleh, M. T., Karim, L. & Ghubash, R. (1996) Postpartum psychiatric admissions in Al Ain. Annals of Saudi Medicine. 16, 355–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, P. J., Campbell, E. A., Day, A., et al (1988) Nonpsychotic psychiatric disorder after childbirth: a prospective study of prevalence, incidence, course and nature. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 799–806.Google Scholar
Cox, J. L. (1983) Postnatal depression: A comparison of African and Scottish women. Social Psychiatry, 18, 25–28.Google Scholar
Cox, J. L., Holdan, J. M. & Sagovsky, R. (1987) Detection of postnatal depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 782–786.Google Scholar
El-Rufaie, O. E. F. & Absood, G. H. (1994) Validity study of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ–20) in primary health care in UAE. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. 4, 45–53.Google Scholar
Ghubash, R. O. S., Hamdi, E. & Bebbington, P. E. (1992) The Dubai Community Psychiatric Survey: prevalence and sociodemographic correlates. Social Psychiatry and Epidemiology, 27, 53–61.Google Scholar
Ghubash, R. O. S., Abou-Saleh, M. T. & Daradkeh, T. (1997) The validity of the Arabic Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, in press.Google Scholar
Harding, T. W., Arango, M. V. & Baltazar, J. (1980) Mental disorders in primary health care: a study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries. Psychological Medicine, 10, 231–241.Google Scholar
Kumar, R. (1994) Postnatal mental illness: a transcultural perspective. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 29, 250–264.Google Scholar
O'Hare, M. W. & Swain, A. M. (1996) Rates and risk of postpartum depression – a meta-analysis. International Review of Psychiatry, 8, 37–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shoab, I. A. & Hassan, G. A. (1990) Postpartum psychosis in the Assir region of Saudi Arabia. British Journal of Psychiatry. 157, 427–430.Google Scholar
Warner, R., Appleby, L., Whitton, A., et al (1996) Demographic and obstetric risk factors for postnatal psychiatric morbidity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 607–611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.