Prevalence of postpartum depression in China: a systematic analysis

Objective To analyze the prevalence of postpartum depression in China.Methods CNKI,Chongqing VIP database,CBMDISK,Pubmed databases were searched for articles about postpartum depression prevalence in China published during 1996～2012.The random effects model was employed.Results There were 84 articles which provided 52 776 samples,and 8390 cases of depressive symptoms were detected.The pooled prevalence was 14.7％(13.1％～16.3％),The prevalence of postpartum depression was different in different regions,municipality directly under the central government was the lowest 10.9％(8.7％～12.7％),county area was the highest 16.4％ (11.9％～22.2％).From the east of China to the central and to the west,the prevalence rate assumed the trend of escalation.The prevalence which evaluated by standard of EPDS ≥ 10 was higher than the prevalence evaluated by EPDS ≥ 13 and SDS ≥50.Conclusions The prevalence of postpartum depression is high in China.More attention should be paid to the central,western of China,urban,rural and other underdeveloped areas. Key words: Postpartum depression;  Prevalence;  Meta analysis