A follow-up study of postpartum psychoses: prognosis and risk factors for readmission.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the prognosis and risk factors for the first readmission after postpartum psychosis. Linking the Danish Medical Birth Register and the Danish Psychiatric Central Register from 1 January 1973 to 31 December 1993 revealed 1173 women diagnosed with a psychosis within 91 days of delivery. The relative risk (RR) of readmission was estimated using Cox proportional hazard regression models. An increased risk of readmission was found for women with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (RR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.9-3.1) and for women with a history of previous psychiatric admission (RR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.5-2.1) compared to first-admitted women with other functional psychoses. Unmarried women also showed an increased risk of readmission, and only preterm delivery was associated with a reduced risk of readmission. Preterm delivery predicts the best prognosis after postpartum psychosis. The majority of readmissions were related to the psychopathology of the patient and to lack of social support.