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Published on: August 25, 2014
National Cross-Sectional Study of Mental Health Screening Practices for Primary Caregivers of NICU Infants
Cooper Bloyd1,2, Snehal Murthy1, Clara Song3
1School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Insights
Routine mental health screening for parents with infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is inadequate. Many NICUs do not offer essential mental health support, despite recommendations for postpartum mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) services.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Maternal mental health
- Healthcare systems research
Background:
- Universal screening for postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) is recommended for new parents.
- Parents with infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) often miss these crucial mental health services during hospitalization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of mental health screening and treatment programs for primary caregivers in US NICUs.
- To assess current practices in mental health education, screening, and treatment for NICU caregivers.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study utilizing an online survey distributed to US NICU medical directors.
- Comparative analyses using Fisher's exact test to evaluate differences in practices across NICU settings.
- Survey responses were collected from 75 NICUs nationwide.
Main Results:
- Less than half of participating NICUs routinely provided psychoeducation on mental health self-care (47%) or screened for postpartum depression (PPD) and other mental health disorders (44%).
- Nearly a quarter of NICUs (23%) offered no PMAD screening for caregivers.
- Routine mental health care for primary caregivers in the NICU remains insufficient.
Conclusions:
- Despite established consensus on the importance of postpartum psychosocial care, routine mental health support for NICU caregivers is inadequate.
- There is a significant gap in providing essential mental health services to parents whose infants require NICU admission.
Abstract:
Universal screening for postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) has been recommended for all new parents at outpatient postpartum and well-child visits. However, parents of newborns admitted to the NICU are rarely able to access these services during their infant's prolonged hospitalization. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of mental health screening and treatment programs for parents or other primary caregivers in NICUs across the country. In this cross-sectional study, US NICU medical directors were invited to complete an online survey about current practices in mental health education, screening, and treatment for primary caregivers of preterm and ill infants in the NICU. Comparative analyses using Fisher's exact test were performed to evaluate differences in practices among various NICU practice settings. Survey responses were obtained from 75 out of 700 potential sites (10.7%). Of participating NICUs, less than half routinely provided caregivers with psychoeducation about mental health self-care (n = 35, 47%) or routinely screened caregivers for PPD or other mental health disorders (n = 33, 44%). Nearly one-quarter of the NICUs did not provide any PMAD screening (n = 17, 23%). Despite consensus that postpartum psychosocial care is essential, routine mental health care of primary caregivers in the NICU remains inadequate.
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