Frequency and risk factors of postpartum psychosis in psychiatric ward of Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran, a ten year epidemiologic study

Abstract Introduction: Post partum psychosis is seen in women who have just given birth. This disorder has destructive effects on mother-child and couple relationships. The current study explores the frequency and risk factors of post partum psychosis during a 10 years period in Golestan Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. Materials & Methods: The current study is a cross-sectional study. Study environment was psychiatric ward of Golestan hospital in Ahvaz. Sampling was done by census using patient’s medical records. Eleven cases were diagnosed with postpartum psychosis from 2002 to 2012. Inclusion criteria were: being married and being in reproductive age (15-35). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The mean age of mothers was 22.09. 72.7% of the patients were residents of the city. 72.7% had vaginal delivery and 27.3% had cesarean-section. In 63.7% of cases, the onset of disorder was after first child birth and in 45.4% of women; the onset of this illness was three weeks after delivery. Most of women got married and had their first child at age less than 20. Most patients had medium economic situation. Conclusion: This study showed that marriage age, low economic situation, newbornʹs sex may be risk factors for postpartum psychosis. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm these results. Keywords: Post partum psychosis, Epidemiology, Risk factors.