PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS AND RISK FACTORS FOR SCREENING OF MOOD DISORDERS IN PREGNANCY AND POST-PARTUM: A PRELIMINARY STUDY.

Pregnancy and childbirth are events of intense biological work as an hard psychological mobilization. Anxiety and sadness reactions are common in these periods, so that some patients develop mood disorders, such as postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, puerperal psychosis. Aim of this study is to determine sensitive and specific psychometric tests and risk factors for the prevention of these conditions. A group of patients was recruited during pregnancy (169 patients), at 2-3 days (69 patients) and 4-6 weeks after birth (12 patients at present), submitting two psychometric tests (EPDS and HCL-32) and a questionnaire for the analysis of risk factors. In pregnancy, 14.1% of the sample were positive at EPDS test and 39.6% at HCL-32. 2-3 days after birth: 17.4% of patients were positive at EPDS test and 43.5% at HCL-32. At 4-6 weeks postpartum evaluation: 33.3% of the sample were positive at EPDS test, 16.7% at HCL-32. Risk factors significantly associated with positivity for postpartum EPDS resulted: "previous induced abortion" (p = 0.004), "previous miscarriages" (p = 0.028), "previous psychiatric treatment" (p = 0.028) "positive EPDS test before birth "(p = 0.006). "Being in Italy for less than 6 months" is associated with both positive tests EPDS (p raw = 0.001) and HCL-32 (p = 0.032). These preliminary results show that psychometric tests should be used not only in postpartum, but also in pregnancy as an instrument of prevention of mood disorders and postpartum depression in the presence of significant risk factors. Further consideration will need a sample of more patients.