Screening for maternal depression in a low education population using a two item questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Maternal mental health
• Pediatric health screening
• Depression identification

Background:

• Depressive symptomatology affects economically disadvantaged mothers.
• Effective screening tools are crucial in pediatric settings.
• The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) is a brief screening tool for depression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) for identifying depressive symptoms in economically disadvantaged mothers.
• To identify risk factors associated with a positive depression screen in this population.

Main Methods:

• A convenience sample of 94 mothers was recruited from an inner-city well-child clinic.
• Mothers completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).
• The EPDS served as the reference scale for comparison.

Main Results:

• The PHQ-2 demonstrated moderate agreement with the EPDS.
• Sensitivity was 43.5% and specificity was 97.2%.
• Higher sensitivity was observed in mothers with education beyond high school. Lack of childcare support and having two or more children were associated with positive screens.

Conclusions:

• The PHQ-2's low sensitivity in lower-educated mothers necessitates further research across diverse sociodemographic groups.
• Similar depression symptom rates in mothers beyond the postpartum period suggest the need for ongoing, periodic screening.