Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety Disorders among Perinatal Teenage Girls Accessing Maternal Child Health Services in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Depression and anxiety are categorized as common mental health disorders and the prevalence vary in different contexts. Perinatal teenage girls experience heightened stress levels that could increase the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders among perinatal teenage girls accessing maternal child health services in Nairobi County, Kenya. This was a cross sectional study which involved teenage girls between the age of 10-19 years who were accessing maternal child health (MCH) services during pregnancy and within one-year post-delivery. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to identify four health care facilities offering MCH services where the participants were selected purposively. Socio-demographic questionnaire, Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck’s Anxiety Inventory (BAI) tools were utilized in collecting data from a sample of 175 perinatal teenage girls. Data analysis was done by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS (SPSS®) Version 28. The study established that the prevalence of depression was 70.8% at varying levels of severity: Mild depression was 16.6%, Moderate depression was at 24.0% while severe depression was 30.3%. The prevalence of anxiety was at 33.7% at varying levels as well, moderate anxiety was 26.3% while high anxiety was 7.4%. Depression and anxiety are prevalent during teenage perinatal period and therefore, antenatal, and postnatal teenagers should be screened for depression and intervention provided promptly.