Relationship between Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) Scores in the Early Postpartum Period and Related Stress Coping Characteristics.

Despite postpartum depression being a common mental health problem, there is no screening method for it. The only risk assessment used is the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). We investigated the relationship between Brief Scale for Coping Profile (BSCP) subscales performed during pregnancy and EPDS scores. We recruited 353 women with normal pregnancies (160 primiparas, and 193 multiparas) and performed BSCP at 26 weeks of gestation. The EPDS was first performed within one week after delivery (T1), and then after one month (T2). Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated for the BSCP and EPDS for the whole and primi/multipara groups. Multiple regression analysis was performed with the EPDS T2 scores as the dependent variable. The EPDS scores were higher in the primipara group compared to the multipara (p < 0.001), and the EPDS T1 scores were higher than the overall T2 score (p < 0.001). In the multiple regression analysis, EPDS T1 and the "seeking help for solution" subscale were selected as significant explanatory variables when analyzed in the whole group; EPDS T1 and "active solution" for the primiparas; and EPDS T1, "changing mood", and "seeking help for solution" for the multiparas. The BSCP can be used as a screening tool for postpartum depression during pregnancy.

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Text Message Intervention to Promote Help Seeking for Psychiatric Outpatients.

Mental illness often affects and is affected by other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and AIDS/HIV infection, and people living with mental illness require additional common services and resource mobilization efforts. Therefore, we developed a mobile phone intervention and conducted a randomized controlled trial with 45 psychiatric outpatients with mental illnesses. Data from 39 individuals (intervention group: 20, control group: 19; mean [SD] age, 44.64 [14.12] years) were included in the analyses. The intervention involved the promotion of help-seeking behaviors by sending text messages, including information about social welfare services, for 3 months. After the intervention period, no significant differences were found in the proportion of help-seeking behaviors between the intervention and control groups. However, concerning the reason for not using social services, the proportion of participants who answered "I do not know how to use it" in the intervention group was significantly lower compared to the control group. More than 80% of participants in the intervention group reported that the text messaging service was helpful and useful, and they wanted more messages and information. This was the first randomized controlled trial to promote psychiatric patients' help-seeking behavior using text messaging. Moreover, the text messaging intervention was found to be cost-effective.

Prolonged effectiveness of 12-month exercise-plus-diet intervention in Japanese adults at risk of impaired glucose or lipid metabolism.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prolonged effects of a 12-month exercise-plus-diet intervention in Japanese adults at risk of impaired glucose or lipid metabolism. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: A total of 180 participants were randomly divided into an intervention group (n=94), and a control group (n=86). An exercise-plus- diet intervention was conducted on the intervention group for 12 months. The effects were evaluated by questionnaire, physical examinations, and blood tests at baseline, 3 months, 12 months (the end of intervention), and 24 months (one year after the end of intervention). The control group took only the same examinations as the intervention group. RESULTS: At the end of the 12-month intervention, body weight, waist circumference, fasting glucose, HbA1c, triglycerides, and LDL-cholesterol were improved in the intervention group compared to the control group (all p<0.05). One year after the end of the intervention, body weight, waist circumference, fasting glucose, triglycerides, and LDL-cholesterol were still decreased in the intervention group compared to the control group (all p<0.05), especially among non-overweight participants. Among overweight persons, only body weight in the intervention group was lower than the control group. The personal behaviours of physical activity and diet in the intervention group were also improved. CONCLUSIONS: The 12-month exercise-plus-diet programs were found to be effective in improving glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as personal behaviour one year after completion of the intervention.