Title
Maternal depression symptoms and use of child health-care services at The Pelotas 2004 Birth Cohort
Date Issued
15 June 2019
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Del-Ponte B.
Ruivo A.C.O.
Moreira L.R.
Könsgen B.I.
Wehrmeister F.C.
Matijasevich A.
Barros F.
dos Santos I.S.
Universidad Federal de Pelotas
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the influence of maternal depression on child health-care services utilization. Methodology: Data from The Pelotas 2004 Birth Cohort collected at birth and at 12- and 24-month follow-ups were used. Four outcomes occurring in the second year of life were investigated: number of well-baby visits, number of medical appointments, number of visits to emergency rooms, and number of hospitalizations. The main exposure was maternal depression symptoms at 12-month post-partum as assessed by the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated by Poisson regression. Results: The prevalence of mothers with depressive symptoms was 27.6% (95% CI: 26.2–29.0%). These mothers showed a 10% lower probability of taking their children to well-baby visits (0.90; 0.85–0.95; p = 0.001); 16% higher probability to seek medical consultations (1.16; 1.09–1.25, p = 0.001); and they sought emergency services for their children more often (1.30; 1.17–1.45, p < 0.001) as compared to mothers who did not present depressive symptoms. Although the PR for hospitalizations was 26% higher for children from mothers with depressive symptoms, the association did not achieve statistical significance (1.26; 0.98–1.63; p = 0.072). Conclusion: Children from mothers with depressive symptoms attend fewer number of preventive consultations. In contrast, they are taken to medical and emergency care more often, suggesting that these children are given healthcare when they are at more advanced stages of their illnesses.
Start page
303
End page
307
Volume
253
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Obstetricia, GinecologĂa
PsicologĂa (incluye terapias de aprendizaje, habla, visual y otras discapacidades fĂsicas y mentales)
PsiquiatrĂa
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85065835630
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Affective Disorders
ISSN of the container
01650327
Sponsor(s)
This article is based on data from the study "Pelotas Birth Cohort, 2004″ conducted by Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology at Universidade Federal de Pelotas, with the collaboration of the Brazilian Public Health Association (ABRASCO) . From 2009 to 2013, the Wellcome Trust supported the 2004 birth cohort study. The World Health Organization, National Support Program for Centers of Excellence (PRONEX), Brazilian National Research Council ( CNPq ), Brazilian Ministry of Health, and Children's Pastorate supported previous phases of the study.
Sources of information:
Directorio de ProducciĂ³n CientĂfica
Scopus