Impact of Stepped Care Treatment for Postpartum Disorder on 9-Month Health, Work, and Duration of Treatment Outcomes
| Outcomes | Stepped Care (n = 16) | Control (n = 18) | P* |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHQ-9 score† | 9.0 (7.3) | 7.6 (6.5) | .597 |
| Women with positive PHQ-9 (score ≥10) (n [%]) | 7 (44) | 5 (28) | .475 |
| Mental Health score‡ | 18.8 (5.9) | 20.7 (5.4) | .356 |
| General Health score§ | 2.8 (1.0) | 2.8 (0.6) | .851 |
| Number of illness days (within 2 weeks) | |||
| Mother | 3.3 (4.9) | 2.6 (5.0) | .869 |
| Infant | 1.1 (3.5) | 1.9 (3.0) | .466 |
| Number of clinic/urgent care visits (within 2 weeks) | |||
| Mother | 0.2 (0.8) | 0.2 (0.04) | .972 |
| Infant | 0.1 (0.3) | 0.6 (1.9) | .407 |
| Length of maternity leave (weeks)‖ | 23.0 (12.7) | 9.1 (4.8) | .024 |
| Number of hours spent at work during past week | 34.0 (2.8) | 35.0 (7.2) | .861 |
| Number of hours of missed work during past week | 4.0 (5.7) | 1.5 (2.1) | .296 |
| Impact of health problems on work productivity¶ | 1.0 (1.4) | 2.0 (2.4) | .604 |
| Impact of problems on regular activities¶ | 3.9 (3.1) | 2.4 (2.8) | .562 |
| Number of weeks of treatment | 19.8 (11.5) | 19.6 (12.8) | .363 |
| Women treated for ≥12 weeks (n [%]) | 9 (75) | 4 (67) | .252 |
| Number of counseling visits | 5.3 (8.8) | 2.3 (3.1) | .131 |
| Number of psychiatry visits | 0.8 (2.1) | 0.5 (0.8) | .928 |
All values presented as mean (SD) unless otherwise indicated.
* Determined by one-way analysis of variance or χ2.
† PHQ-9 score range = 0 to 27, with higher numbers representing more depressive symptoms.
‡ Mental Health score range = 5 to 30, with higher numbers representing better mental health.
§ General health, single item: 1 = poor, 2 = fair, 3 = good, 4 = very good, 5 = excellent.
‖ The analysis on length of leave included only 2 stepped care subjects and 8 control subjects.
¶ Impact of health problems on work productivity or regular (non-job related) activities: scale of 0 to 10, where higher numbers represent greater negative health impact.
PHQ, Patient Health Questionnaire.