The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the detection of majordepressive disorders in early postpartum: some concerns about false negatives

This paper presents a phenomenological study of three false negative cases according to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) of major depre ssive disorder identified by a semi-structured clinical interview. Tn a stu dy of 87 unselected women with 23 of them suffering from a major depressive disorder (according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria), three cases of m ajor depressive disorders were not identified as potential cases by the EPD S. The symptomatology of these three false negative cases was also assessed by a semi-structured interview (Present State Et;amination). Comparisons b etween EPDS scores and the scores of two other self report questionnaires ( the General Health Questionnaire-28 and the Center fur Epidemiologic Studie s-Depression Scale) suggest that EPDS is better at identifying depressed po stnatal women with anhedonic and anxious symptomatology rather than those w hose depression presents mainly with psychomotor retardation. (C) 2000 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.