The evidence also shows that not all women are assessed for PPD, nor do all women receive treatment.11 sellekchem Moreover, it has recently been shown that in Iran the prevalence of mental disorders in women (25.9%) was higher than men (15.9%).12 Given the high prevalence and high morbidity of undiagnosed PPD, the screening of mothers during postpartum period for early detection of those with probable PPD has always been a matter of interest for the researchers and clinicians. One Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the prominent tools for the diagnosis of PPD is the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression
Scale (EPDS) that was designed by Cox et al. in 1987 as a self-report questionnaire.13 The EPDS consists of 10 items with acceptable sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value. It has been used in many studies, and has been introduced as a valuable and powerful PPD screening tool in different cultures.10 Although evidence surrounding clinical and cost-effectiveness of various methods of identifying PPD is lacking,14 it has been suggested
that EPDS is not only an Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical acceptable and desirable screening tool of PPD from women’s views, but also a suitable tool for universal perinatal depression screening from policy-maker’s views.15 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Berle et al. reported that the Norwegian translation of EPDS served equally well as other translations as a screening tool for postnatal depression.16 Vega-Dienstmaiar et al. in a study on 321 women in the first
year after delivery reported that EPDS had a maximum cut-off point of 13.5, a sensitivity of 84%, and a specificity of 79% in diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD). They reported a correlation coefficient of 0.44 between EPDS and some of the symptoms Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of MDD and a Cronbach’s alpha=0.70, and concluded that Spanish version of EDPS had appropriate psychometric properties.17 Montazeri et al. in a study on 100 women in Iran showed that 22% in 6-8 weeks and 18% in 12-14 weeks after delivery developed PPD.18 Cronbach’s alpha for the questionnaire used Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in the first period (test) was 0.77, and that for Cilengitide the second period (retest) was 0.86. The SF36 questionnaire was used for determination of the validity of EPDS and coefficients were -0.41 in first period (test) and -0.57 in second period (retest).18 Howeverm, they did not assessed other important characteristics of EPDS such cut-off point, sensitivity and specificity.18 In another study by Mazhari et al. a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.83 for the whole scale, and the best cut-off scores for major depression were 12/13 with a sensitivity and specificity of 95.3% and 87.9%, respectively.19 Considering the importance of EPDS, this study was designed to evaluate the full range of psychometric properties of EPDS including cut-off point, sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy Index in a sample of Iranian women.