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CLINICAL TRIAL article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Perinatal Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1433942
This article is part of the Research Topic Molecular Mechanisms in Psychiatry 2023: Perinatal Psychiatry View all articles

Effectiveness of Group-Based Psycho-Education on Preventing Postpartum Depression among Pregnant Women by Primary Healthcare Provider in Primary Healthcare Institution: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

Provisionally accepted
Marta Tessema Marta Tessema 1*Muluemebet Abera Wordofa Muluemebet Abera Wordofa 2Zewdie BK Zewdie BK 3
  • 1 School of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
  • 2 Department of Population and Family Health, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Oromia Region, Ethiopia
  • 3 Department of Health Behavior and Society, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In Ethiopia, one in five mothers suffers from postpartum depression, which needs to be prevented through interventions. According to the World Health Organization, maternal healthcare providers have a unique opportunity to provide psychosocial interventions to prevent the damaging effects of perinatal depression. Hence, this study assessed the effectiveness of prenatal group-based psycho-education in preventing postpartum depression (PPD) in primary healthcare units.We conducted a two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial, enrolling 550 pregnant women at 12-20 weeks of gestation with a normal score (0-4) and a mild score(5-9) on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The study utilized simple randomization techniques to assign clusters between arms in a 1:1 ratio. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews conducted at 12-20 weeks of gestation and 6 weeks postpartum. The intervention group received usual care plus five prenatal groupbased psycho-education (PGBPE) classes, while the control group received only usual care. The PPD status between arms was compared using the chi-square test of association.A mixed-effects multilevel logistic regression model was also used to examine the predictors of the outcome variables.The overall response rate at the end line was 92.9%. Thus, compared to that in controls, the PPD in the intervention clusters was considerably lower (20 (7.6%) vs. 74 (28.9%)), P = 0.001)/65% (AOR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.13-0.99), although no difference was detected at baseline. Social support (AOR = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.01-0.15), partner emotional support (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.12-0.51), PPD literacy (AOR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.11-0.62), and self-esteem (AOR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.11-0.47) were more likely to protect mothers from PPD. On the contrary, domestic work (AOR = 9.75, 95% CI = 3.37-28.16), neonates with complications (AOR = 5.79, 95% CI = 2.04-16.45), and unhealthy coping (AOR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.06-5.42) exposed mothers to PPD.The implementation of a PGBPE in primary healthcare units (PHCUs) was

    Keywords: postpartum depression, Psycho-education, effectiveness, randomized controlled trial, Primary Health Care

    Received: 16 May 2024; Accepted: 12 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tessema, Wordofa and BK. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Marta Tessema, School of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

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