Treatment of Postnatal Depression for Low-Income Mothers in Primary Care in Santiago, Chile

Randomized Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Postnatal Depression

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00518830

Acronym

DPP

Enrollment

230

Registered

2007-08-21

Start date

2004-03-31

Completion date

2006-07-31

Last updated

2007-08-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Postnatal Depression

Keywords

postnatal depression, primary care, depressed women

Brief summary

A randomized clinical trial was carried out at primary care level in Santiago, Chile to investigate a combined treatment for women suffering post-natal depression and preventing the adverse consequences of this illness on infant's growth and development.

Detailed description

Background: We compared the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention with usual care to treat postnatal depression among low-income mothers in primary care clinics in Santiago, Chile. Methods: Randomised controlled trial. Two hundred and thirty mothers with major depression attending postnatal clinics were randomly allocated to either a multi-component intervention or usual care. The multi-component intervention involved a psychoeducational group, treatment adherence support, and pharmacotherapy if needed. Data were analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. The main outcome measure was the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 3 and 6 months after randomisation.

Interventions

OTHERmulti-component intervention

The PND-MCI included psycho-educational groups, structured pharmacotherapy if needed, and systematic monitoring of clinical progress and treatment compliance

OTHERUsual care

included all services normally available in the clinics, including antidepressant medication, brief psychotherapeutic interventions or referral for specialty treatment

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

FEMALE

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Mothers meeting criteria for current DSM-IV major depression were eligible.

Exclusion criteria

* who had received any form of treatment for their depression during their current postnatal period, * those who were pregnant, * with psychotic symptoms, * serious suicidal risk, * history of mania, * alcohol or drug abuse

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
EPDS	3 and 6 months

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
four dimensions of the Short Form-36 (SF-36) Questionnaire: mental health; emotional role; social functioning; and vitality(34) and significant clinical improvement.	3 and 6 months

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 6, 2026