Suicidality among pregnant women in Brazil: prevalence and risk factors

• Published in: Archives of women's mental health Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 343 - 348
• Main Authors: Castro e Couto, Tiago, Brancaglion, Mayra Yara Martins, Cardoso, Mauro Nogueira, Faria, Gustavo Coutinho, Garcia, Frederico Duarte, Nicolato, Rodrigo, Aguiar, Regina Amélia Lopes P., Leite, Henrique Vitor, Corrêa, Humberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.04.2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Analysis; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Anxiety Disorders - epidemiology; Anxiety Disorders - psychology; Brazil - epidemiology; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - psychology; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - epidemiology; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Maternal & child health; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Middle Aged; Original Article; Postpartum depression; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - epidemiology; Pregnancy Trimester, Second; Pregnant women; Pregnant Women - psychology; Prenatal care; Prenatal Diagnosis; Prevalence; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychiatry; Psychotherapy; Risk Factors; Suicidal behavior; Suicide - psychology; Suicide - statistics & numerical data; Suicides & suicide attempts; Young Adult; Brazil; Pregnancy; Prenatal screening; Suicidality; Risk factors; Antenatal depression
• ISSN: 1434-1816; 1435-1102
• DOI: 10.1007/s00737-015-0552-x

Suicide is one of the major causes of preventable death. We evaluated suicidality among pregnant women who participated in prenatal care in Brazil. A total of 255 patients were assessed using semi-structured interviews as well as the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) Plus. Thereafter, Stata 12 was used to identify the significant predictors of current suicide risk (CSR) among participants using univariate and multivariate analyses ( p  < 0.05). According to MINI Plus module C, the lifetime suicide attempt rate was 12.55 %. The overall CSR was 23.53 %, distributed across risk levels of low (12.55 %), moderate (1.18 %), and high (9.80 %). Our rates approximate those found in another Brazilian study (18.4 %). Antenatal depression (AD), lifetime bipolar disorder, and any current anxiety disorder (as measured using the MINI) as well as BDI scores ≥15 and EPDS scores ≥11 were identified as positive risk factors in a univariate analysis ( p  < 0.001). These factors changed after a multivariate analysis was employed, and only years of education [odds ratio (OR) = 0.45; 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) = 0.21–0.99], AD (OR = 3.42; 95 % CIs = 1.37–8.53), and EPDS scores ≥11 (OR = 4.44; 95 % CIs = 1.97–9.97) remained independent risk factors. AD and other psychiatric disorders were the primary risk factors for suicidality, although only the former remained an independent factor after a multivariate analysis. More than 10 years of education and EPDS scores ≥11 were also independent factors; the latter can be used as a screening tool for suicide risk.