Antenatal depression symptoms in Pacific women: evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand.

INTRODUCTION Pacific women in New Zealand (NZ) have higher rates of antenatal depression than women from other ethnic groups. AIM To identify factors that are significantly associated with depression symptoms in pregnant Pacific women living in NZ. METHODS Data were collected from 5657 pregnant women, 727 of whom identified their ethnicity as Pacific Island. Antenatal depression symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Depression Scale with scores above 12 indicating elevated antenatal depression symptoms (ADS). RESULTS Pacific women had significantly higher rates of ADS than non-Pacific women, with 23% of pregnant Pacific women experiencing ADS. Factors associated with ADS for Pacific women included age <25 years, moderate to severe nausea during pregnancy, perceived stress, family stress and relationship conflict. Not seeing the importance of maintaining one's Pacific culture and traditions and negative feelings towards NZ culture were also significantly associated with ADS in Pacific women. One in three Pacific women aged <25 years experienced ADS. Pregnant Pacific women without a family general practitioner (GP) before their pregnancy were 4.5-fold more likely to experience ADS than non-Pacific women with a regular GP. DISCUSSION Further attention is required to providing appropriate primary health care for Pacific women of child-bearing age in NZ. Better screening processes and a greater understanding of effective antenatal support for Pacific women is recommended to respond to the multiple risk factors for antenatal depression among Pacific women.

Paternal Depression Symptoms During Pregnancy and After Childbirth Among Participants in the Growing Up in New Zealand Study.

Importance: Antenatal and postnatal depression are known to be common and associated with poor outcomes for women and their children. There is little evidence on depression symptoms among men during the perinatal period. Objective: To identify characteristics associated with depression symptoms among men whose partners were pregnant and subsequently gave birth. Design, Setting, and Participants: A longitudinal cohort study provided data from a demographically diverse sample of 3523 New Zealand men who completed interviews during their partner's pregnancy and 9 months after the birth of their child. Participants were drawn from a cohort whose partners were pregnant women with a due date between April 25, 2009, and March 25, 2010, who were enrolled in the Growing Up in New Zealand study. Data analysis was conducted from September 1, 2015, to January 8, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: Depression symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire; elevated depression symptoms were defined as scores higher than 12 and 9, respectively. Results: The mean (SD) age of the participants at the antenatal interview was 33.20 (6.25) years (range, 16-63 years). Elevated antenatal paternal depression symptoms affected 82 fathers (2.3%) and were associated with perceived stress (odds ratio [OR], 1.38; 95% CI, 1.30-1.47) and fair to poor health during their partner's pregnancy (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.18-3.61). Elevated postnatal paternal depression symptoms affected 153 (4.3%) of fathers and were associated with perceived stress in pregnancy (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.08-1.17), no longer being in a relationship with the mother 9 months after childbirth (OR, 6.36; 95% CI, 2.28-17.78), having fair to poor health at 9 months (OR, 3.29; 95% CI, 2.10-5.16), being unemployed at 9 months (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.11-3.10), and a history of depression (OR, 2.84; 95% CI, 1.69-4.78). Conclusions and Relevance: Expectant fathers were at risk of depression symptoms if they felt stressed or were in poor health. Rates of elevated depression symptoms were higher during the postpartum period and were associated with adverse social and relationship factors. Identifying fathers most at risk of depressive symptoms and when best to target interventions (antenatal or postnatal) may be beneficial to men and their families.

Further investigations into the use of high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry as a means of predicting drug-excipient interactions.

The early prediction of drug-excipient incompatibility is vital in the pharmaceutical industry to avoid costly material wastage and time delays. We report here on the use of high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (HSDSC) to examine the compatibility between an experimental drug (Drug A) and common pharmaceutical excipients. Short-term HSDSC experiments (up to 25h) indicated that Drug A was stable in the presence of moisture and was compatible with both lactose monohydrate and magnesium stearate in the dry state, but showed degradation in the presence of magnesium stearate and water in combination. These results agreed with conventional stability studies, in which extensive degradation was observed in the Drug A-magnesium stearate system after storage at 40 degrees C/75% RH for 4 weeks but not under other conditions. These results indicate that HSDSC may be used to examine the compatibility of experimental drugs with conventional excipients and, in particular, illustrate the importance of incorporating humidity as an experimental variable in order to fully establish the stability profile of the material under test.