Perinatal Depression Increases Risk for Death

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Women with clinically diagnosed perinatal depression have an increased risk for death, especially during the first year after diagnosis and because of suicide, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in The BMJ.

Naela Hagatulah, M.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues assessed whether women with perinatal depression have an increased risk for death compared to women who did not develop the disorder and their full sisters. The analysis included 86,551 Swedish women with a first-ever diagnosis of perinatal depression and 865,510 matched women without a perinatal depression diagnosis, as well as 270,586 full sisters (including 24,473 with perinatal depression and 246,113 who did not have this disorder).

The researchers found that compared with women who did not have perinatal depression, women with perinatal depression had an increased risk for death (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.11). Similar associations were observed among women who had and did not have a preexisting psychiatric disorder. Risk for death was increased more so for postpartum than for antepartum depression (HR, 2.71 versus 1.62). While the association was most pronounced within the first year after perinatal depression, it persisted for up to 18 years. The greatest increased risk was associated with suicide (HR, 6.34), although suicide was rare (0.23 per 1,000 person-years).

"Women affected by perinatal depression, their families, and health professionals, particularly those working in primary, maternal, and mental care, need to be aware of the serious health hazards regardless of psychiatric history," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text