High rates of maternal depression amongst Syrian refugees in Lebanon - a pilot study
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This pilot study compares symptoms of depression and risk factors amongst Syrian refugees and low-income Lebanese mothers accessing a primary care centre in Beirut between January and June 2018. Women who gave birth in the previous two years or who were currently pregnant were included in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Arabic Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Correlations between EPDS score and sociodemographic and mental health variables were analysed using Pearson’s coefficient and ANOVA. 35 Syrian and 25 Lebanese women were recruited, 15 of whom were pregnant. EPDS scores were high in the whole group (mean 16.12 (SD 7.72), n=60). Scores were higher amongst Syrian refugees than Lebanese mothers (17.77, SD 7.66 vs, 13.80, SD 7.34, p<0.05). Illegal residence (p<0.001), domestic violence (p<0.05) and a history of mental illness (p<0.01) were associated with higher scores. This pilot study demonstrates high rates of symptoms of depression amongst mothers in this population. Symptoms were particularly prevalent amongst Syrian refugees; three-quarters were ‘probably depressed’ and would warrant psychiatric assessment. This highlights the importance of improved mental healthcare for refugee mothers, the importance of addressing the social determinants of maternal mental health and further research into the effects of depression on these women and their children.
Date Issued
2019-08-14
Date Acceptance
2019-07-30
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2019, 9 (1)
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
9
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2019 The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or
format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the
copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or
format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the
copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
PREVALENCE
HEALTH
WOMEN
0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology
0299 Other Physical Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
11849
Date Publish Online
2019-08-14