Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39490676›Full record

ArticleJournal of affective disorders2025

Depression in the time of COVID-19: Examination of prenatal and postpartum depression, rurality, and the impact of COVID-19.

Kelsey L Blocklinger, Serena B Gumusoglu, Ashlyn S Kenney, Alexis J Faudel, Elissa Faro, Debra S Brandt, Boyd Knosp, Heather A Davis, Stephen K Hunter, Mark K Santillan and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Kelsey L BlocklingerUniversity of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, United States of America.
Serena B GumusogluUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America.
Ashlyn S KenneyUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America.
Alexis J FaudelUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America.
Elissa FaroUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America.
Debra S BrandtUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America.
Boyd KnospUniversity of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, United States of America.
Heather A DavisUniversity of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, United States of America.
Stephen K HunterUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America.
Mark K SantillanUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America.
Donna A SantillanUniversity of Iowa Health Care, United States of America. Electronic address: Donna-santillan@uiowa.edu.

Funding

University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational ScienceUM1TR004403 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI Marlan R Hansen, Patricia Winokur · 2023 to 2026
$16.1M
Vasopressin and Preeclampsia: Early Mechanisms for PreventionR01HD089940 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · PI SANTILLAN, MARK K · 2019 to 2023
$1.9M
NCATS NIH HHS UM1 TR004403NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD089940
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms in rural versus urban populations.

methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted among 24,227 cisgender women who gave birth from 2010 to 2021 at an academic medical center located in a rural midwestern state. Exclusion criteria were <18 years old, incarcerated, or without a documented zip code. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was administered during pregnancy and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during postpartum. A sub-cohort also completed a COVID-related questionnaire. Rurality was defined as living in a county with <50,000 people. The COVID-19 era was defined as 1/1/2020 to 9/25/2021. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used as appropriate. Significance was set at α < 0.05.

resultsRural participants were more likely (p ≤ 0.001) to exhibit clinical depression symptoms before the pandemic in both the prenatal (8.63 % of rural participants vs. 6.49 % of urban participants) and postpartum periods (11.19 % rural vs. 9.28 % urban). During the pandemic, urban participants had increased postpartum depression. Rural participants endorsed more financial and labor concerns, whereas urban participants expressed support system concerns. LIMITATIONS: Study data were gathered from participants who gave birth at a single, midwestern hospital. Results may not be widely generalizable given the homogeneity of participants.

conclusionsRural women experienced higher rates of prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms compared to their urban counterparts. The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant stressor, revealing specific mental health vulnerabilities among birthing people.

Indexed as

COVID-19Depression, PostpartumRural PopulationUrban PopulationAdultDepressionFemaleHumansPregnancyPregnancy ComplicationsRetrospective StudiesSARS-CoV-2Young AdultCOVID-19DepressionPandemicPostpartumPrenatal

Identifiers

PMID39490676
PMCPMC11631661

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.