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  "id": "maternal:edinburgh-postnatal-depression-scale",
  "owner": "maternal",
  "kind": "technology",
  "slug": "edinburgh-postnatal-depression-scale",
  "name": "Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)",
  "aliases": [],
  "atlases": [
    "maternal"
  ],
  "summary_plain": "A 10-question form that a mother fills in about her mood, first described in 1987, to help find postnatal depression in the community. It takes about 5 minutes and is scored in a simple way. It is a screening tool and does not make a diagnosis.",
  "summary_technical": "Developed as a 10-item self-report scale and validated on 84 mothers against Research Diagnostic Criteria from a standardised psychiatric interview; the original abstract reports satisfactory sensitivity and specificity and sensitivity to change over time, without numbers (see the claim on this page). The registry record for the zuranolone trial SKYLARK uses the EPDS as a secondary outcome. No cut-off score is stated in this atlas because the abstract read gives none.",
  "editorial_state": "draft",
  "last_substantive_edit": "2026-10-14",
  "last_evidence_check": "2026-10-14",
  "next_review_due": null,
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  "navigation": {
    "maternal": {
      "life-stage": [
        "pregnancy",
        "postpartum"
      ],
      "care-area": [
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      ]
    }
  },
  "payload": {
    "principle": "Ten-item self-report questionnaire for screening for postnatal depression in the community, with a simple scoring method.",
    "strengths": [
      "Can be completed in about 5 minutes (original abstract)",
      "Has a simple method of scoring (original abstract)",
      "Found to have satisfactory sensitivity and specificity in the original 84-mother validation, and to be sensitive to change in severity over time (original abstract)"
    ],
    "limitations": [
      "The original validation used 84 mothers",
      "The original abstract gives no sensitivity, specificity or cut-off values",
      "A screening questionnaire: a diagnosis uses a clinical evaluation based on symptoms (MedlinePlus)"
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      "statement": "The 1987 paper that introduced the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) describes a 10-item self-report scale to screen for postnatal depression in the community. It was validated on 84 mothers against Research Diagnostic Criteria from a standardised psychiatric interview, and the authors found satisfactory sensitivity and specificity and sensitivity to change in the severity of depression over time. The scale can be completed in about 5 minutes and has a simple method of scoring.",
      "context": {
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        "label": "Mothers in the 1987 validation study of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale",
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        "population": "A validation study carried out on 84 mothers, using the Research Diagnostic Criteria for depressive illness obtained from Goldberg's Standardised Psychiatric Interview. The scale was developed to screen for postnatal depression in the community.",
        "care_setting": "Community (abstract).",
        "geography": "Not stated in the abstract.",
        "life_stage_note": "Postnatal period",
        "life_stage_terms": {
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        "gestational_age_min_days": null,
        "gestational_age_max_days": null,
        "gestational_age_basis": null,
        "postnatal_age_min_days": null,
        "postnatal_age_max_days": null,
        "gestational_age_status": null,
        "postnatal_age_status": null,
        "followup_description": "The abstract says the scale was sensitive to change in the severity of depression over time; it gives no follow-up length.",
        "eligibility": {
          "inclusion": [
            "Mothers in the validation study"
          ],
          "exclusion": [
            "Not stated in the abstract"
          ]
        }
      },
      "evidence_stage": "observational",
      "certainty": "not_assessed",
      "certainty_method": null,
      "limitations": "The abstract gives no sensitivity, specificity, cut-off score or confidence interval, so the atlas gives none; a score cut-off is not stated here. One validation study of 84 mothers in 1987 does not show how the scale performs in other languages, populations or in pregnancy. The scale is a screening questionnaire; it does not make a diagnosis. Only the PubMed abstract was read.",
      "editorial_state": "draft",
      "checked_at": "2026-10-14",
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