Prevalence and Determinants of Antenatal Depression among pregnant women in Chittagong, Bangladesh: A hospital Based Study.

Abstract

Background: Antenatal depression is a serious issue worldwide. The prevalence of Antenatal depression is high compared to high income countries. Different studies have shown that it has become a serious problem globally as well as it has different negative impacts on mother and the child. However, In Bangladesh, few studies with highly variable and inconsistent findings but no study have been done in Chittagong. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of Antenatal depression and its determinants among pregnant women in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Objective: The study objective was to assess the prevalence of antenatal depression among pregnant women living in Chittagong area and to assess the determinants of associated factors among pregnant women in the Chittagong area. Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted from November- January 2023. A total of 250 pregnant women who visited the hospital were included in the study. A random sampling method technique was used to select study participants, and a structured questionnaire was conducted to collect data. In addition, I have used different scales there. For the data entry and Analysis used the SPSS. Moreover, Descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies and percentages were computed. Cross tabulation was performed to be associated with factors and variables with p-values < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.

Results: A total 250 pregnant women were included in Analysis. The third trimester was

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high and it was 79.2%. 100% pregnant women were married and 92.0% were housewives. In addition, 87.2% had less than 25000 income. Moreover, among 33.2% pregnant had the previous abortion 33.2% had the previous C-section 37.2%. Among 250 pregnant women, the GDM 18.4% and the higher blood pressure 28.4%.in addition, out of 250 women, family history psychiatric illness had 49.2%. Furthermore, Intimate partner violence, GDM, and high blood pressure were associated with antenatal depression.

Conclusion: The study showed that antenatal depression was high for those who had intimate partner violence also it is also associated with GDM and Blood pressure. Our study suggests doing the Antenatal depression services during pregnancy. Moreover, Family based intervention, evidence based female empowerment, partner education and positive relationship with the partner is very important to reduce the problem.