Screening for postpartum hypomania among Chinese women after childbirth

Abstract

This study examines the prevalence and risk factors for postpartum hypomania in women after childbirth as well as examining the potential influence of personality traits in relation to experiencing symptoms of postpartum hypomania. A total of 1022 women no later than 1 month post-birth were recruited in Suzhou, China, between March 2017 and December 2018. Hypomanic symptoms were assessed with the Hypomania Checklist-32 (HCL-32), and a total score of 14 or higher was defined as having hypomanic symptoms. We found 43.6% of the women in our sample had hypomanic symptoms. The results of multiple logistic regression showed that rural residence [p = 0.01, odds ratio (OR) = 0.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.5-0.9], education background (p = 0.005, OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.5-0.9), marriage satisfaction (p = 0.048, OR = 0.9, 95% CI =0.8-1.0), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (p = 0.001, OR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.9-1.0), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Extraversion (p < 0.001, OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 1.1-1.2), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Lie (p = 0.01, OR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.9-1.0), and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (p = 0.02, OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 1.0-1.1) were independently associated with exhibiting hypomanic symptoms. The current study provided insights into hypomanic symptoms in Chinese postpartum women. We also found that extraversion and lie personality were significantly associated with an increased risk of hypomanic symptoms in postpartum women. It is urgent to arrange screening for women at risk of developing postpartum hypomania as soon as possible after giving birth and at regular intervals in the first 6 months to prevent the women developing psychological disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder later on.

Keywords: China; Hypomanic symptoms; Personality; Postpartum period; Screening.