The accuracy of Edinbourgh postpartum depression test.

Background: Postnatal depression is a key concept for mother-infant mental health. Evidence of its impact on the mother and infant relationship has been increasingly reported in recent years. Therefore, an optimal intervention is important for women and their babies' mental health. Identifying risk factors of postnatal depression and development of screening systems are required. Method: Validation of EDPS was conducted on a sample of 230 women who were within their 8th week of postpartum. The structured diagnostic test was Beck Depression Inventory that was used as the gold standard test. Result: The study of sensitivity, specificity and predictive values yielded the following results: best sensitivity in this test = 64.58, specificity =76/5, positive predictive value = 62, negative predictive value =79/2, false positive rate = 34/1, true positive rate = 23/4, accuracy of test = 72/6. Conclusions: It was concluded that values for the validity were favorable, but not excellent. The EPDS is useful as a screening tool among other clinical methods for assessing postnatal depression in Iranian women.