THE EDINBURGH POSTNATAL DEPRESSION SCALE - VALIDATION FOR AN AUSTRALIAN SAMPLE

One hundred and three post-partum women completed the Edinburgh Postna tal Depression Scale (EPDS) and were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. A cut-off score of 12.5 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale identified all nine women who reached criteria for m ajor depression. At this threshold the sensitivity (the percentage of true ''cases'' identified) of the EPDS was 100%, its specificity (the percentage of true ''non-cases'' identified as such) 95.7% and its pos itive predictive value (the percentage of all those tested as positive who were correctly identified as such) 69.2%. Although this study sup ported the validity of the EPDS, a replication of this study on a larg er sample is suggested.