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The economic toll of COVID ‐19: A cohort study of prevalence and economic factors associated with postpartum depression in Kenya
Author(s) -
Sudhinaraset May,
Landrian Amanda,
Mboya John,
Golub Ginger
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/ijgo.14142
Subject(s) - medicine , pandemic , depression (economics) , confidence interval , odds ratio , demography , environmental health , covid-19 , disease , sociology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , macroeconomics
Objective The aim of the study is to examine the risk of postpartum depression (PPD) among women who delivered during the COVID‐19 pandemic compared to women who delivered before the COVID‐19 pandemic and how economic challenges are associated with PPD. Methods Data were collected from 2332 women. This includes 1197 women from healthcare facilities in 2019 who were followed up at 2–4 and 10 weeks postpartum. Additionally, we recruited 1135 women who delivered from March 16, 2020 onward when COVID‐19 restrictions were mandated in Kenya in the same catchment areas as the original sample to compare PPD rates. Results Adjusting for covariates, women who delivered during COVID‐19 had 2.5 times higher odds of screening positive for PPD than women who delivered before COVID‐19 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.92–3.15). Women who reported household food insecurity, required to pay a fee to cover the cost of PPE during labor and delivery and/or postnatal visit(s), and those who reported COVID‐19 employment‐related impacts had a higher likelihood of screening for PPD compared to those who did not report these experiences. Conclusion The COVID‐19 pandemic has greatly increased the economic vulnerability of women, resulting in increases in PPD.