Nonemergency ED Use Higher Among Infants of Mothers With Perinatal Depression, Study Finds

Compared with infants of mothers with no perinatal depression symptoms, those born to mothers with mild or moderate/severe symptoms were significantly more likely to have emergency department (ED) visits for nonemergency reasons, according to astudy published inHealth Affairs.“Perinatal mental health conditions affect 20% of birthing people and are associated with a range of adverse child outcomes, including increased ED use,” wrote Slawa Rokicki, Ph.D., M.S., of Rutgers University. “This may be a result of increased illness or injury due to biological effects of d epression on infant health or inadequate infant care practices associated with parental depression. Alternatively, increased ED use may be due to overuse resulting from a lack of social support at home or low health literacy.”Rokicki used data from the hospital records of 207,428 mothers who gave birth to non-twins in New Jersey between 2016 and 2018; New Jersey implemented universal depression screening for new mothers before hospital discharge in 2006. Most hospitals screened with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Rokicki categorized perinatal depression symptom severity as none (scores of zero to six), mild (scores of seven to 13), and moderate/severe (scores of 14 or greater).She linked these data with infants ’ ED discharge records during the first year of life. Infants’ primary diagnosis codes when discharged from the ED were used to determine if the visits were nonemergent or emergent.A l...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: depression screening emergency department infants maternal mental health Nonemergent perinatal depression postpartum depression Rutgers University Slawa Rokicki Source Type: research