(643) Association between partner status and postpartum depression among collaborative care perinatal mental health program participants

Friday, February 10, 2023

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Objective: Having a supportive partner during the transition to new parenthood may protect against PPD. Our objective was to examine the relationship between partner status and PPD among those participating in collaborative care (CC), a health services intervention that improves perinatal depression using population-level surveillance and treatment of mental health symptoms.

Study Design: This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study of perinatal people referred to CC at a quaternary medical center in Chicago. Participants were stratified into two groups by self-reported partner status: partnered versus unpartnered (single, separated, divorced, widowed, or other). The primary outcome was a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score >14—consistent with moderately severe or severe postpartum depressive symptoms—at the postpartum visit. Secondary outcomes were PHQ-9 scores at the postpartum visit, stratified by depressive symptom severity. Outcomes were compared between partnered and unpartnered people. Multivariable modeling controlled for differences between groups identified on bivariable analyses.

Results: Of 2,321 CC participants, 1,511 (65.1%) were partnered. There were sociodemographic and obstetric differences between groups (Table 1). Being partnered was associated with a reduction in PHQ-9 score >14 by nearly 50% (aOR 0.54, 95% CI 0.37, 0.78). Overall, >75% of the cohort had no or mild depressive symptoms at their postpartum visit. Though there were no differences in moderate or moderately severe depressive symptoms at the postpartum visit, partnered postpartum people had a 71% reduction in their risk of severe depressive symptoms comparatively (aOR 0.29 (95% CI 0.13, 0.66) (Table 2).

Conclusion: Among those in CC, having a partner was associated with a significant reduction in postpartum PHQ-9 scores >14, which was driven by a marked reduction in severe depressive symptoms. This association underscores the important role that partners can play in postpartum mood while receiving evidence-based perinatal mental health support.

Primary & Presenting Author(s)

Adam K. Lewkowitz, MD, MPHS
Assistant Professor
Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Coauthor(s)

Allie Sakowicz, MS
Medical Student
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
EA
Emma Allen, BS
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Nina K. Ayala, MD
Attending Physician
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
LG
Laurie B. Griffin, MD, PhD
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
CB
Cynthia L. Battle, PhD
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Emily S. Miller, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)
Director, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island, United States