Associations Between Implementation of the Collaborative Care Model and Disparities in Perinatal Depression Care

To evaluate whether perinatal collaborative care model implementation was associated with a reduction in racial disparities in depression care.

This retrospective cohort study included pregnant and postpartum people who self-identified as either Black or White, and received prenatal care at academic faculty offices affiliated with an urban quaternary medical center. Individuals were divided into two cohorts to reflect the epochs of implementation. The primary outcome was the frequency of depression screening. The secondary outcome was the frequency of provision of a treatment recommendation for those with a positive depression screen. Antenatal and postpartum care were analyzed separately. A propensity score was used in multivariable models to control for confounders chosen a priori across implementation epoch. Interaction terms were created between race and implementation epoch to identify whether effect modification was present. Subgroup analyses were performed for outcomes with significant race-by-epoch interaction terms.

Of the 4,710 individuals included in these analyses, 4,135 (87.8%) self-identified as White and 575 (12.2%) self-identified as Black. Before implementation, Black individuals were more likely to receive screening (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.44) but less likely to have a treatment recommended when a positive screen was identified (aOR 0.05). In multivariable models, race-by-epoch interaction terms were significant for both antenatal screening (P<.001) and antenatal treatment recommendation (P=.045), demonstrating that implementation of the perinatal collaborative care model was associated with reductions in extant racial disparities. After implementation, there were no significant differences by race (referent=White) in screening for antenatal depression (aOR 1.22, 95% CI 0.89-1.68) or treatment recommendations for those who screened positive (aOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.27-1.53). Race-by-epoch interaction terms were not significant in multivariable models for either postpartum screening or treatment recommendation.

Implementation of the perinatal collaborative care model is associated with a mitigation of racial disparities in antenatal depression care and may be an equity-promoting intervention for maternal health.