Racial Differences in Perinatal Depression among HIV-infected Women

Background

Perinatal depression may further complicate the health of women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Diagnosis and subsequent treatment of depressive symptoms may significantly improve the health of mother and newborn.

Objective

We sought to examine the association between race and perinatal depression among a sample of low-income women with HIV infection.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study used data from a multi-state Medicaid administrative claims database to study HIV-infected perinatal women between 2003 and 2007. Multivariate regression analysis was used to study the objective.

Results

The overall prevalence of perinatal depression in the sample (n = 650) was 27.8%. Black women had significantly lower odds of experiencing perinatal depression (odds ratio 0.328; 95% confidence interval 0.225-0.479) compared with non-black women. Non-black women showed significantly higher comorbidity severity scores than black women (0.356 vs. 0.220, P = .035).

Conclusions

This study found that non-black women may be more vulnerable to perinatal depression. Improved health care provider vigilance for depressive symptoms among low-income, HIV-infected women of all races during the perinatal period is warranted.