Diagnostic accuracy of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: consequences of screening in Mexican women

Introduction: Postpartum depression is a non-psychotic depressive episode with serious repercussions on the bond between the mother and her child, hence the importance of detecting it in a timely manner. Objective: To determine the accuracy of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale as a diagnostic test and to analyze the consequences of screening and the probability of depression after applying the test. Method: Screening of 411 women with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale during the postpartum period; Beck's Depression Inventory was used as reference. Results: At a cutoff point of 12, a sensitivity of 70.4 %, specificity of 72.2 %, positive predictive value of 36.9 % and negative predictive value of 91.4 % were obtained with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, as well as an area under the curve of 0.729 and a p-value of 0.0003. Out of 49 women without treatment for postpartum depression, five were identified to require it. Conclusions: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale has moderate accuracy; its application is simple, accessible and should be routine. It is necessary for strategies to detect and treat postpartum depression to be implemented in Mexico.