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  • Comparison of factors associated with postpartum depression from two cohorts of nurses: the Korea Nurses’ Health Study and the Nurses’ Health Study 3

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Original research
Comparison of factors associated with postpartum depression from two cohorts of nurses: the Korea Nurses’ Health Study and the Nurses’ Health Study 3
  1. Oksoo Kim1,
  2. Bohye Kim1,
  3. Su-Young Kim2,
  4. Eunyoung Cho3,4,
  5. Hea Young Lee5,
  6. Chiyoung Cha1,
  7. Nohyun Bae6,
  8. Minjoo Kim2,
  9. Dong Hoon Lee7,8,
  10. Jorge E Chavarro9,
  11. Hyun-Young Park10,
  12. Sue Kim11
  1. 1 College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
  2. 2 Department of Psychology, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
  3. 3 Department of Dermatology and Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
  4. 4 Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  5. 5 Department of Nursing, Doowon Technical University, Anseong, South Korea
  6. 6 Department of Nursing Science, Seojeong University, Yangju, South Korea
  7. 7 Department of Sports Industry Studies, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
  8. 8 Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  9. 9 Department of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  10. 10 Department of Precision Medicine, Korea National Institute of Health, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, South Korea
  11. 11 College of Nursing, Mo-Im Kim Nursing Research Institute, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
  1. Correspondence to Dr Sue Kim, College of Nursing, Mo-Im Kim Nursing Research Institute, Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea; suekim{at}yuhs.ac

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to identify whether differences exist in postpartum depression (PPD) in US and Korean nurses and its related factors. Identifying occupational and personal factors that underlie potential differences will be helpful for women’s occupational health.

Methods Baseline and postpartum survey data from employed nurses in the Korea Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study 3 (1244 Korean; 2742 US nurses) were analysed. Postpartum data collection was done via online survey. PPD was analysed based on cultural validation from prior studies using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (cut-off of 10 for Korea and 13 for USA); depressive symptoms prior to pregnancy and childbirth, general characteristics and sleep satisfaction were also measured. Descriptive statistics, χ2 tests and t-tests and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis were performed.

Results 45.9% of Korean participants had clinical symptoms of PPD (≥10), whereas US participants presented with 3.4% (≥13). Prior depressive symptoms were also higher in Korean participants (22.5%) compared with their US counterparts (4.5%). Prior depressive symptoms and poor sleep satisfaction were significant risk factors of PPD in both cohort groups, and vaginal birth was an additional influencing factor in Korean participants.

Conclusions Differences in PPD rates and related factors suggest the role of stress, cultural variation and differing work systems. Nurses and other women shift-workers noted to have depressive symptoms before and during pregnancy and exhibit PPD symptoms should especially be followed closely and offered supportive mental health services that include greater flexibility in returning to work.

  • health personnel
  • women
  • mental health

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2022-108609

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request. The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Conceptualisation: OK, BK, EC, HYL, JEC, H-YP and SK. Data collection and curation: BK, NB, MK and DHL. Formal analysis: BK, S-YK, MK and DHL. Writing—original draft: OK, BK, CC, NB, H-YP and SK. Writing—review and editing: OK, EC, JEC and SK. Guarantor: SK

    • Funding This research was supported by a fund (2013-E63006-01) by Research of the Korea National Institute of Health. The Nurses’ Health Study 3 was supported by grants U01-HL145386 and R24-ES028521 from the US National Institutes of Health.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.