Objectives
The qualitative study was conducted within the international
“Transcultural study of postnatal depression (PND)” in 17 centres
located in 13 different countries. The aim was to explore
perceptions of PND by lay and professional key informants,
specifically regarding description of symptoms, awareness of this
pathology and of possible care.
Methods
Broad areas of inquiry and open-ended probes were developed by
the TCS-PND research group during international workshops to
obtain data comparable between countries on perceptions of
PND. A non-random convenience sampling method was used to
recruit postpartum mothers for focus groups, and fathers and
grandmothers for interviews. Influential healthcare planners and
clinicians were interviewed as professional key informants in each
centre. Within sites, transcripts of focus groups and interviews
underwent a process of text analysis in the original language until
exhaustive theme extraction was achieved. Themes (in English)
from all the centres were combined into broader categories and
after consensus discussions these categories were revalidated.
Results and discussion
Qualitative data were supplemented in each centre with sociodemographic
data to address the issues of: (i) whether perceptions
of PND are related to some specific cultural perception of mental
heath and/or of status of parenthood and (ii) how high or low
levels of general care and specificity of health policy relate to
differences in perception of needs for care. Data collected using
the same probes and methodology in different countries and
cultures has enabled a comparative analysis of perceptions of
PND. In addition it has shown that, although not described with
the same words, PND is a well-recognised condition by recent
mothers in all countries in this study. Data on focus groups and
interviews from selected countries are given in the following
abstracts to illustrate some similarities and differences in
perceptions between countries
