Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and prevalence of depression among adolescent mothers in a Cameroonian context.

Abstract The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is the screening tool for perinatal depression, and its cut-off score varies according to context and population. In Cameroon, no study has yet defined a cut-off score or the prevalence of perinatal depression in adolescent mothers. Our aim is to determine the cut-off for teenage mothers in Cameroon. The study is cross-sectional and analytical in nature. The EPDS was administered and the DSM-5 was used to diagnose depression. The data were analysed with Epidata 3.1 and processed with SPSS 25. Positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NVP) were calculated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, is analyse. 1633 adolescent mothers were recruited. The prevalence of perinatal depression was 60.8% (95% CI = 58.5, 63.2). The cut-off score for this population was ≥ 13. Sensitivity was 85.3% (95% CI = 0.836, 0.870]) specificity 66.9% (95% CI = 0.646,0.692), PPV 80.1% and NPV 74.5%. This score of ≥ 13 is retained because the model is well discriminating, with the air under the curve (AUC) being 0.823 (95% CI = 0.801, 0.844) with p = 0.000. This study on the validation of the EPDS and the prevalence of perinatal depression in a population of teenage mothers is new in Cameroon and central Africa.