Using tablets to screen new, expecting moms for perinatal depression

Pregnant women and new mothers at one central Illinois public health clinic will soon receive depression screenings using mobile health - also called mHealth - technology.

Researchers from the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois are collaborating with staff members at Champaign-Urbana Public Health District on a project that will provide perinatal depression screenings using tablet computers.

"We've talked to clinicians at other sites, and the mHealth technology is a no-brainer - it's easy, people are comfortable with it, it's faster and it's paperless - there are so many great things about it," said principal investigator Karen M. Tabb Dina, a professor of social work. "But clinics across the country are struggling with how to implement universal screening, and from what we've learned, they're implementing it without getting staff feedback first."

Early in the project, focus groups were held with Public Health staff members to gain their perspectives about the clinic's paper-based screening system and the possibility of using technology to overcome language barriers and other obstacles.

Tabb Dina is the lead author on a paper about the project that is forthcoming in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry. She also is the principal investigator for Identifying Depression through Early Assessment, a multidisciplinary project that is exploring the prevalence of perinatal depression among women in Brazil and the U.S.

Perinatal depression - which begins during pregnancy or up to a year after childbirth - may affect up to 20 percent of women worldwide. Some recent studies suggested that the disease might be twice as prevalent among low-income women.

Perinatal depression Depression is an illness which is caused by chemical changes in the brain. Perinatal depression is depression that occurs during pregnancy and up to 12 months after giving birth. It can be caused by changes in hormones during pregnancy and after having a baby. It can also be caused by the many stresses of being a new mother.

Postpartum depression, or depression after delivery, is different from post-partum “blues,” which peak three to five days after delivery and usually end within two weeks after the baby’s birth. Medical experts believe that postpartum blues are due to hormonal changes in a woman’s body which make her feel more irritable, sad and confused. The feeling of the blues usually lessens and goes away over time.

A woman with perinatal depression has symptoms that last two weeks or longer.

Warning Signs and Symptoms of Depression:

Feeling very sad, anxious or cranky
Frequent crying
Not feeling up to doing daily tasks
Not feeling hungry, or eating when not hungry