Citation

Hossain SJ, Roy BR, Hossain AT, Mehrin F, Tipu SMMU, Tofail F, Arifeen SE, Tran T, Fisher J, Hamadani J. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020; 17(13): e4727.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph17134727

PMID

32630173

Abstract

The burden of depression is high globally. Maternal depression affects the mother, the child, and other family members. We aimed to measure the prevalence of maternal postpartum depressive (PPD) symptoms having a child aged 6-16 months, health-seeking behavior for general illness of all family members, out of pocket (OOP) payments for health care and cost coping mechanisms. We conducted a cross sectional study with 591 poor families in rural Bangladesh. The survey was conducted between August and October, 2017. Information was collected on maternal depressive symptoms using the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20), health-seeking behavior, and related costs using a structured, pretested questionnaire. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 51.7%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that PPD symptoms were independently associated with maternal age (p = 0.044), family food insecurity (p < 0.001) and violence against women (p < 0.001). Most (60%) ill persons sought health care from informal health providers. Out of pocket (OOP) expenditure was significantly higher (p = 0.03) in the families of depressed mothers, who had to take loan or sell their valuables to cope with expenditures (p < 0.001). Our results suggest that postpartum depressive symptoms are prevalent in the poor rural mothers. Community-based interventions including prevention of violence and income generation activities for these economically disadvantaged mothers should be designed to address risk factors. Health financing options should also be explored for the mothers with depressive symptoms.

Language: en

Keywords

Bangladesh; maternal depression; prevalence; health-seeking behavior; out of pocket payment; rural settings