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Prevalence and incidence of postnatal depression: what can systematic reviews tell us?

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Abstract

Background

Postnatal depression (PND) has a significant impact on maternal mental health. Systematic reviews provide a useful tool to summarise research, however little is known about the quantity and quality of existing systematic reviews of prevalence and incidence of PND.

Objective

The objective of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of existing systematic reviews of prevalence and incidence of PND in the first 12 postnatal months.

Method

Medline, Embase, Cinahl, PsychInfo and the Cochrane Library were searched for systematic reviews of prevalence and incidence of PND which met the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) criteria. Characteristics of selected reviews, completeness of reporting results and methodological quality were evaluated.

Results

Five reviews were selected for appraisal. Only one systematic review was identified; four reviews were non-systematic. Only two reviews provided a quantitative summary estimate of prevalence of PND. Completeness of reporting results using published guidelines was not undertaken by any review. The methodological quality of four reviews revealed limitations.

Conclusions

Limited generalisable evidence exists in the form of high-quality systematic reviews to inform current knowledge of the prevalence and incidence of PND. The implication of this represents an important limitation for health services planning and service delivery.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments to an earlier version of the paper and Janette Colclough for advice with regard to the conduct of the search strategy.

Declaration of Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that no conflict of interest exists.

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Correspondence to Rachel Mann.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects DARE Criteria (Centre for Reviews & Dissemination 2009)

  1. 1.

    Were inclusion/exclusion criteria reported?

  2. 2.

    Was the search adequate?

  3. 3.

    Were the included studies synthesized?

  4. 4.

    Was the validity of the included studies assessed?

  5. 5.

    Are sufficient details about the individual included studies presented?

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Mann, R., Gilbody, S. & Adamson, J. Prevalence and incidence of postnatal depression: what can systematic reviews tell us?. Arch Womens Ment Health 13, 295–305 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-010-0162-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-010-0162-6

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