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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1446494
This article is part of the Research Topic New Approaches for Improving Equity in Mental Health Research, Treatment, and Policy View all 13 articles

Tapestry of Postnatal Emotional Disorders: Exploring the Interplay of Anxiety and Depressive Disorders and Their Associated Risk Factors in Sudanese Women

Provisionally accepted
Abdelgadir H. Osman Abdelgadir H. Osman 1,2*Abdelaziz Osman Abdelaziz Osman 3Ibtihal A. Osman Ibtihal A. Osman 4Taisir Hagar Taisir Hagar 3
  • 1 University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
  • 2 Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
  • 3 Dubai Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • 4 University of Gezira, Wad Medani, Al Jazirah, Sudan

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

    Background: This research aims to unravel the prevalence of postnatal emotional disorders with a focus on how postnatal anxiety remained under-estimated and often embroiled in postnatal depression.Methods: Out of 600 postnatal women invited to take part in this study from two prominent primary care clinics in Khartoum, 468 women agreed to participate in this study. Three questionnaires were utilized in this study, a Personal Information Questionnaire (PIQ), HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and Beck depression Inventory (BDI). Multiple linear regression analysis applied to gauge risk factors with postnatal anxiety and depression.Results: More than half (52.50 %) of women showed evidence of both anxiety and depression using HADS, while only (20.9 %) of cases were detected by BDI, showing evidence of moderate depressive disorder. A substantial proportion (28.4%) showed high levels of comorbidity of anxiety and depression in the category of moderate to severe symptoms. Main risks factors for postnatal disorders were past psychiatric illness (β = 0.25, p = 0.001), a family history of psychiatric illness (β = 0.15, p = 0.002), and stress due to the number of children (β = 0.32, p = 0.001).This study advances our understanding of postnatal emotional disorders, particularly highlighting the prevalence as well as correlates of postpartum anxiety. More importantly, this study highlights the importance of routine screen for emotional distress in postnatal women.

    Keywords: postnatal depression, Postnatal anxiety, Postnatal emotional disorders, Sudan, Comorbid anxiety and depression

    Received: 09 Jun 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Osman, Osman, Osman and Hagar. 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: Abdelgadir H. Osman, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.