Depressive symptoms in Vietnamese women with gestational diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study

This study aims to identify the prevalence of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus who have depressive symptoms according to Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and depression-related factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 333 pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus at the Department of High-risk pregnancy of Hung Vuong Hospital, Vietnam, from March 6th to May 31st, 2020. Participants were screened using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Multivariate analysis with a logistic regression model was used to identify related factors. The prevalence of pregnant women with GDM who have depressive symptoms was 16.82% [95% CI: 12.96 - 21.28]. The following risk factors for depressive symptoms were also identified among pregnant women with GDM: (i) confiding in friends while feeling unhappy or anxious increased the risk of depression by 3.23 times (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj] = 3.23; 95% CI [1.02 - 9.38]; p = 0.035), while confiding in siblings increased the risk by 6.55 times (ORadj = 6.55; 95% CI [1.23 - 33.14]; p = 0.023). (ii) The longer the period from GDM diagnosis to screening, the less likely a woman is to develop depression during pregnancy. Specifically, an increase of one week resulted in a 0.9-fold decrease in the risk of depression (ORadj = 0.9; 95% CI [0.83 - 0.96]; p = 0.003). Depression screening should be included as a routine point of care for pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Women who exhibit symptoms of depression should receive treatment from specialists to prevent further complications.