Poster Presentation
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
This presentation is part of : Poster Presentations I
Violence Exposure and Postpartum Depression in Low-Income Hispanic Women
Jung-Tzu Lin, RN, MSN, Women's Services, Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA, Janet Hooper, RNC, BSN, OB/GYN/Surgical Clinic, Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA, and Qiuping (Pearl) Zhou, RN, PhD, Avon-Inova Cares Breast Cancer Network, Women's Services, Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA.
Learning Objective #1: indicate the incident rate of violence exposure and postpartum depression in low-income Hispanic women
Learning Objective #2: describe the relationships among violence exposure, pregnancy outcomes and postpartum depression.
Background: The prevalence of violence exposure during pregnancy is estimated to be 0.9-20.1%. Violence is more common than preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and placenta previa. After childbirth, depression is the second most common reason for women to be hospitalized in the United States. Evidence suggests that poor, young and minority women are at the greatest risk for developing postpartum depression. However, there is limited information regarding violence exposure and postpartum depression in low-income Hispanic women.

Purposes: To (1) estimate the prevalence of postpartum depression and violence exposure before and during pregnancy, (2) explore the relationship among violence exposure, pregnancy outcomes and postpartum depression in low-income Hispanic women.

Methods: This was a prospective study using low-income Hispanic women receiving care at an OB Clinic. The inclusion criteria were: 1) Hispanic language, 2) age 16 years and older, and 3) had delivered a baby within 12 weeks. Participants completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depresion Scale (EPDS, α= .85) and the 4-item CDC Violence Screening Tool. Demographic, socioeconomic variables, obstetrical history and pregnancy outcomes were collected by chart review. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, etc. were employed to analyze data.

Results: Preliminary data of 154 women were included in this analysis. The prevalence of violence exposure was 14% before and 7% during pregnancy. About 19% of women reported EPDS scores greater than 12. Women with violence exposure before and during pregnancy had significantly higher scores on EPDS (M=11.3 vs. M=7.5, p<.01; M=13.0 vs. M=7.6, p<.01 respectively). There is no relationship between violence exposure and delivery outcomes. Violence exposure was the strongest predictor for postpartum depression.

Implications: To our knowledge, this is the first study correlating violence exposure with postpartum depression in Hispanic women. Further study is needed to investigate this relationship. Culturally appropriate supportive resources regarding violence should be provided to Hispanic pregnant women.

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