Postpartum Depression Up With Family History of Psychiatric Disorder

TUESDAY, Aug. 30, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Moderate-certainty evidence suggests an almost twofold increased risk for developing postpartum depression (PPD) among mothers with versus those without a family history of any psychiatric disorder, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Mette-Marie Zacher Kjeldsen, from Aarhus University in Denmark, and colleagues examined the association between a family history of psychiatric disorders and the risk for developing PPD within 12 months after childbirth in a systematic review. Data were included from 26 studies, with 100,877 women.

In a meta-analysis, the researchers found that the odds ratio for developing PPD was increased when mothers had a family history of psychiatric disorders (odds ratio, 2.08), corresponding to a risk ratio of 1.79 assuming PPD prevalence of 15 percent in the general population. The overall certainty of evidence was graded as moderate.

"This systematic review and meta-analysis highlights mothers with a family history of any psychiatric disorder have an almost doubled risk of developing PPD compared with mothers without," the authors write. "Information on family history of psychiatric disorders is easy to identify through simple self-reported question(s), potentially as part of routine perinatal care, and early identification makes timely and targeted intervention possible to prevent PPD or mitigate the consequences thereof."

One author disclosed financial ties to H. Lundbeck and Sage Therapeutics.

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