The Level of Knowledge and it’s Determinants Regarding Postpartum Depression Among Physicians at Ministry of Health Primary Healthcare Centers in Jeddah, 2020

Abstract

Introduction: As post-partum depression (PPD) is a condition that occurs in a specific time frame starting during pregnancy or in the first 4 weeks following delivery, it is easy to be early detected and diagnosed at the primary healthcare level. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge regarding PPD and its determinants among physicians in Jeddah city.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study targeting physicians working in primary healthcare centers. The sample size was calculated to be 110 participants based on the estimated total number of doctors at a 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error. The study was carried out using a validated structured questionnaire consisting of two parts. The first section contains information regarding socio-demographics while the second section contains questions that assessed knowledge about PPD including symptoms, screening, risk factors, diagnosis, and management.
Results: A total of 110 physicians were included, of them about two-thirds were females and a half aged 21-34 years old. Regarding job title, it is mainly GPs (53.6%), while 15.5% registrars, and 18.2% consultants. About 44% did sometimes screening for PPD while 44.5% rarely or never did the screening. The total score of knowledge about PPD ranged from 11-41 with a mean score of 30.6± 6.6. Only 58.2% of the doctors had a high level of knowledge about PPd, though 9.1% had a low level of knowledge. Medical qualifications and job title were significant determinants for knowledge about post-partum depression while age and gender had no significant association with the knowledge.
Conclusions: The level of knowledge was, in general, good but inadequate regarding certain domains of post-partum depression among physicians in primary health care. The physicians were highly aware of symptoms and management methods o