Department of Population and Reproductive Health

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Browsing Department of Population and Reproductive Health by Subject "antepartum depression"

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    A Psychosocial Intervention to Reduce Gender-Based Violence and Antepartum Depressive Symptoms in Pregnant Women in Kisumu County, Kenya: A Quasi-Experimental Study
    (Pan African Medical Journal and African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), 2018) Mutisya, Redempta Kalekye; Ngure, Kenneth; Mwachari, Christina
    Introduction: Gender-based violence during pregnancy and its associated adverse health effects are disproportionately higher in developing countries like Kenya where screening for and management of gender-based violence is currently not part of routine antenatal care. This study assessed the effect of a psychosocial intervention on gender-based violence and antepartum depressive symptoms in pregnant women. Methods: This quasi-experimental study compared gender-based violence and antepartum depression scores of 288 pregnant women in the two arms; one exposed to a psychosocial intervention and another receiving usual antenatal care. We used analysis of covariance to estimate the intervention effect and Chi-square to test the equality of proportions. Results: The difference between the psychosocial intervention and the usual antenatal care group in the total intimate partner violence and physical violence scores was a significant, with small effect sizes of partial eta = 0.196 and 0.305 respectively. The two arms did not differ in terms of the proportion of women reporting other acts of gender-based violence by intimate and non-intimate partners post-intervention. The intervention group had significantly lower mean depression scores compared to the usual care group, post-intervention, with a medium effect size of 0.500. Conclusion: This intervention aimed at reduction of gender-based violence and improvement of mental health of pregnant women is promising. Primary health care facilities in resource-constrained settings can take advantage of local capacity to deliver focused non-specialized psychosocial support to pregnant women experiencing violence.