Prevalence of prenatal and postpartum depression in fathers: A comprehensive meta-analysis of observational surveys.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational prevalence surveys.
PubMed 31757623 · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2019.10.030
What was done
A systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the worldwide prevalence of paternal prenatal and postpartum depression occurring between the first trimester of pregnancy and the first postpartum year. International (PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, EMBASE) and Chinese (WanFang, CNKI) databases were searched from inception to July 1, 2018. Pooled prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using a random-effects model across 47 observational studies including 20,728 subjects.
What was found
Paternal prenatal depression prevalence across all three trimesters combined was 9.76% (13.59% in the first trimester, 11.31% in the second trimester, and 10.12% in the third trimester). Paternal postpartum depression prevalence across the entire first year was 8.75% (8.98% within one month, 7.82% between one and three months, 9.23% between three and six months, and 8.40% between six and twelve months postpartum). Postpartum depression prevalence was moderated by publication year, study region, paternal age of >=18 years, study quality score, and mean age (all P < 0.05).
Why it matters
Paternal depression affects roughly one in ten men during the perinatal period, demonstrating that perinatal mental health challenges are not limited to mothers and warrant targeted screening strategies.
Limits
Findings rely entirely on observational surveys, which frequently utilize self-report screening instruments rather than clinical diagnostic interviews. The abstract does not report numerical confidence intervals, measures of between-study heterogeneity, or details on paternal socio-economic factors.
Cited by
- supports New fathers have lower rates of depression than new mothers.