UMMS Affiliation
Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences; Graduate School of Nursing; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Publication Date
2020-02-01
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Health Services Administration | Health Services Research | Mental and Social Health | Military and Veterans Studies | Obstetrics and Gynecology | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology | Psychological Phenomena and Processes | Women's Health
Abstract
Depression screening is recommended for all pregnant veterans; however, little is known on how often symptomatic women receive care, how depression treatment presents in practice, and whether women veterans are utilizing treatment during the appreciable perinatal period. Our sample included 142 pregnant veterans from 15 Veterans Health Administration (VA) medical facilities with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores >/=10. Sociodemographic characteristics, military service, health utilization, and pregnancy related factors were collected as part of a telephone survey. A majority of our sample (70%) had 1 or more mental health visits or antidepressant prescriptions during pregnancy. Women with a history of depression had more mental health visits and a higher percentage of antidepressant use before and during pregnancy than women without a history of depression. Pregnant women veterans without a history of depression may be less likely to receive care for depression during pregnancy. However, the majority of our veterans showing depression symptoms prenatally had at least one mental health visit or an antidepressant medication fill during their pregnancy window, suggesting that mental health care is readily available for women veterans.
Keywords
Depression, Mental health, Pregnancy, Veterans
Rights and Permissions
Copyright: This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply 2020
DOI of Published Version
10.1007/s11126-019-09676-7
Source
Kroll-Desrosiers AR, Crawford SL, Moore Simas TA, Clark MA, Mattocks KM. Treatment and Management of Depression Symptoms in Pregnant Veterans: Varying Experiences of Mental Health Care in the Prenatal Period. Psychiatr Q. 2020 Feb 1. doi: 10.1007/s11126-019-09676-7. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32008211. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The Psychiatric quarterly
PubMed ID
32008211
Related Resources
Repository Citation
Kroll-Desrosiers A, Crawford SL, Moore Simas TA, Clark MA, Mattocks KM. (2020). Treatment and Management of Depression Symptoms in Pregnant Veterans: Varying Experiences of Mental Health Care in the Prenatal Period. Population and Quantitative Health Sciences Publications. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09676-7. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/qhs_pp/1336
Included in
Health Services Administration Commons, Health Services Research Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons, Military and Veterans Studies Commons, Obstetrics and Gynecology Commons, Psychiatry Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons, Women's Health Commons