Burden of common mental disorders among pregnant women: A systematic review

Introduction: Common mental disorders (CMDs) including depressive and anxiety disorders during antenatal period is reported to affect both mother and child health outcomes. There is scarce evidence about burden of CMDs during pregnancy from Lower and Middle Income Countries.

Objective: To review the evidence about the burden of common mental disorders among pregnant women METHODS: Major databases were searched systematically for English language studies on prevalence of CMDs. Quality assessment of studies was done with the modified version of Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for non-analytical studies.

Results: Twenty three studies were included in the review. The prevalence of CMDs among pregnant women ranged from 1%-37%. Depression was more commonly studied (ranged from 1%-30%). Prevalence of GAD ranged from 1%-26%. Factors commonly associated with CMDs were lower SES, intimate partner violence, history of previous episode of CMDs, history of mental illness in family and unmarried status. Effect of CMDs on child health outcome was also detected.

Conclusion: CMDs are common during pregnancy with varying prevalence depending on various settings and scales used.