Development of a screening and recruitment registry to facilitate perinatal depression research in obstetrics settings in the USA

Abstract

Objective: To create a multi-site registry to enable future large-scale studies of perinatal depression among women attending obstetrics clinics in the USA.

Methods: A screening and recruitment registry was developed that included women aged at least 18 years who attended seven obstetric clinics in the University of Michigan Health System (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) for prenatal care between September 8, 2008, and June 9, 2011. Participants completed depression screening and research recruitment materials.

Results: Of 4745 women who returned a screening form, 2983 had completed it, giving an overall agreement rate of 62.9%. A total of 630 participants were enrolled into ten research studies via the registry. Among the 2982 women for whom scores on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were available, 494 (16.6%) fell within the at-risk range or had scores suggestive of clinical depression.

Conclusion: The present registry could improve detection of perinatal depression symptoms and potentially serve as a model for dissemination and implementation at other sites with an interest in studying factors linked to perinatal depression.

Keywords: Obstetrics; Perinatal depression; Research recruitment; Screening.