Provider Adherence to Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screening [ID: 1375752

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: As part of a quality improvement initiative at a high-volume, outpatient obstetric center, a preintervention performance metric was obtained that determined physician adherence to providing the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screen (EPDS), which identifies patients with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. METHODS: This was a retrospective chart review conducted over a 6-month period at the outpatient offices of an academic faculty group practice in a large, urban area. Provider adherence to EPDS screening and documentation was identified as per the standard office protocol—at both 24–28 weeks of gestation and 6–8 weeks postpartum. Patient population was limited to those who presented to their postpartum visit at the designated offices from January 2021 to June 2021 and received antenatal care through this same location. RESULTS: Four hundred forty-five patients met the inclusion criteria for receiving both antenatal and postpartum care within the selected time frame. Antenatally, only 55% of patients received a properly scored EPDS, 12% of patients were screened but the scores were not documented, and 33% of encounters did not include depression screening. Postpartum, only 60% of patients received a properly scored EPDS, 16% of patients were screened but the scores were not documented, and 24% of postpartum encounters did not include depression screening. CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the need for increased physician education and targeted changes to workflow with respect to prioritizing depression screens for patients in antenatal and postpartum periods. Further trends will highlight the need for targeted education interventions or specific patient populations that require more attention to ensure screening is performed.