Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Mar 28:11:20552076251314101.
doi: 10.1177/20552076251314101. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.

Exploring the acceptability, feasibility and utility of a digital tool for self-reporting perinatal anxiety and depression in urban obstetric and paediatric clinics in India

Shraddha Lotlikar  1 , Prabha Chandra  1 , Geetha Desai  1 , Sonali Mohanty Quantius  2 , Latha Venkataraman  3 , Madhushree Vijayakumar  4
Affiliations

Exploring the acceptability, feasibility and utility of a digital tool for self-reporting perinatal anxiety and depression in urban obstetric and paediatric clinics in India

Shraddha Lotlikar et al. Digit Health. .

Abstract

Background: Common mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression, affect 13% to 55% of women during the perinatal period in India. However, high-volume obstetric clinics often lack resources for routine mental health assessment. Digital tools could address this gap by facilitating maternal mental health screening.

Aim: This study evaluates the feasibility, acceptability and utilization of digital self-reporting for perinatal anxiety and depression in two urban obstetric and paediatric clinics.

Method: A multilingual digital application was developed for self-assessment using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and psychosocial risk factors. A total of 234 participants (101 pregnant and 133 postpartum women) completed the assessment, receiving immediate results and personalized recommendations. Follow-up calls 24 h later gathered feedback on feasibility and acceptability.

Results: Among the 234 participants, the assessment identified mild anxiety in 15.8%, moderate to severe anxiety in 11.1%, mild depression in 31.6% and moderate to severe depression in 14.1%. Over 83% of women reported at least one psychosocial risk factor, and 10.2% had a history of psychiatric illness. Of 138 participants responding to follow-up, 60.4% preferred digital self-assessment alone for its convenience and non-judgmental nature. In contrast, 22.5% preferred consulting with their obstetrician or a mental health professional. Challenges included application navigation confusion and attempts to modify answers for lower scores, prompting refinements for improved user experience and cultural relevance.

Conclusion: Digital self-reporting is a feasible and acceptable approach for early detection of perinatal mental health concerns in high-volume urban clinics. Further testing is needed in rural and diverse healthcare settings to assess its broader applicability.

Keywords: Digital; mobile application; obstetric; paediatric; perinatal anxiety; perinatal depression; self-assessment; self-identification; technology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Prevalence of perinatal anxiety and depression in sample population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Kalra H, Tran TD, Romero L, et al. Prevalence and determinants of antenatal common mental disorders among women in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Womens Ment Health 2021; 24: 29–53. - PubMed
    1. Insan N, Weke A, Rankin Jet al. et al. Perceptions and attitudes around perinatal mental health in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan: a systematic review of qualitative data. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2022; 22: 293. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Upadhyay RP, Chowdhury R, Aslyeh Salehi , et al. Postpartum depression in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Bull World Health Organ 2017; 95: 706–717C. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Grigoriadis S, VonderPorten EH, Mamisashvili L, et al. The impact of maternal depression during pregnancy on perinatal outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Psychiatry 2013; 74: e321–e341. - PubMed
    1. Chandra PS, Bajaj A, Desai G, et al. Anxiety and depressive symptoms in pregnancy predict low birth weight differentially in male and female infants—findings from an urban pregnancy cohort in India. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2021; 56: 2263–2274. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources