[Depression screening in the pregnancy care. Results from the area of Békéscsaba].

Introduction: Pregnancy is usually desired, yet it has its own difficulties that can be overwhelming, thus depression might occur. The prevalence of this is 6.58-26.7% in the international literature and 6.5-17.9% in Hungarian studies. Aim: The aim was to analyze the data of the perinatal depression screening program of Békéscsaba which started in 2014. We wanted to study the pathological rate and the connection between demographic data and depression symptoms. Method: Until august 2019, 1708 women took part in the program. The screening is done by perinatal nurses: they explain the aims and hand over the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale three times during pregnancy and once postpartum. They also suggest women in need to attend the psychological intervention as part of the screening. Results: The prevalence of the pathological questionnaires were 15.31%, 14.29%, 11.87%, and 12.68% at the four measuring occasions. In the whole sample, 18.27% of women had pathological score at least once. The depression scores of the four measurements correlated significantly with each other. Women who did not plan their pregnancies had higher level of depression in all four measurements. In the first trimester, women who were under 21 years old and/or were single had higher depression scores. In the second trimester, multipara women tended to have higher scores. Conclusion: The high prevalence and the constant level of depression emphasize the importance of the screening and psychological intervention, as previous studies found connection between depression and some perinatal complications. Some demographic factors can indicate more vulnerable women. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(10): 374-381.