Diagnostic accuracy of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: consequences of screening in Mexican women.

Introduction Postpartum depression is a non-psychotic depressive episode with serious repercussions on the bond between the mother and her child, hence the importance of detecting it in a timely manner. Objective To determine the accuracy of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale as a diagnostic test and to analyze the consequences of screening and the probability of depression after applying the test. Method Screening of 411 women with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale during the postpartum period; Beck's Depression Inventory was used as reference. Results At a cutoff point of 12, a sensitivity of 70.4 %, specificity of 72.2 %, positive predictive value of 36.9 % and negative predictive value of 91.4 % were obtained with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, as well as an area under the curve of 0.729 and a p-value of 0.0003. Out of 49 women without treatment for postpartum depression, five were identified to require it. Conclusions The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale has moderate accuracy; its application is simple, accessible and should be routine. It is necessary for strategies to detect and treat postpartum depression to be implemented in Mexico.