Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) for screening for depression in the first year post delivery in a low-resourced rural setting in Kenya

Postnatal depression is one of the most common mental disorders among postnatal mothers and may have severe consequences for mothers and their children. Locally validated screening tools that can be self- or lay interviewer-administered are required to identify at-risk women, especially in settings with no mental health specialists. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of a culturally adapted version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in a local dialect (Kamba) in a Kenyan setting. Trained research assistants administered the local-language version of self-report scales (EPDS) to a sample of 544 Kamba-speaking women. The same scale was re-administered to the same research participants two weeks later by the same research assistants. The test scores were compared with an external ‘gold standard’ according to the DSM-IV criteria Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for adults (MINI-Plus). The EPDS had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.867 with 95% C.I of 0.836 to 0.894, with a cut-off point of ≥11, sensitivity of 81.0% (95% C.I 70.6–89.0) and specificity of 82.6% (95% CI 78.8–85.9). The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were 44.1% and 96.2%, respectively. The internal reliability was 0.852 and the test-retest reliability was 0.496. The EPDS showed good utility in detecting depressive disorder in Kamba-speaking postnatal women. It does not have to be administered by mental health workers (who are few in low- and middle-income countries); rather, this can be done by a trained lay interviewer.