Maternal & Newborn Atlas
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Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)

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.

  • Technology
  • In this atlas

Overview

Technical summary

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.

How it works

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)

Required infrastructure

None stated in this record.

Claims and evidence

Context Mothers in the 1987 validation study of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

Recipient
Maternal
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
Postnatal period
Gestational age
Not reported
Postnatal age
Not reported
Follow-up
The abstract says the scale was sensitive to change in the severity of depression over time; it gives no follow-up length.
Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; 1 exclusion criterion
Included
  • Mothers in the validation study
Excluded
  • Not stated in the abstract

  • Description Observational Certainty not assessed

    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.

    Applies to Maternal
    • 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.
    • Community (abstract).
    • Not stated in the abstract.
    • Postnatal period
    • Gestational age Not reported
    • Postnatal age Not reported
    Follow-up The abstract says the scale was sensitive to change in the severity of depression over time; it gives no follow-up length.
    Certainty method
    Not assessed
    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.
    Last checked
    2026-10-14
    Next evidence check due
    Not scheduled
    Sources and citations (5)

    1. Supports Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

      Publication · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1192/bjp.150.6.782 · PMID: 3651732

      Locator
      Abstract, sentence 1
      How it applies
      What the scale is.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      cbfeea4e2fb61d3e8b217b6235cfc440307132d681eaa5b2b13b74f4f3f762f5
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    2. Supports Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

      Publication · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1192/bjp.150.6.782 · PMID: 3651732

      Locator
      Abstract, sentence 2, fragment 1 of 2
      How it applies
      Validation sample, part 1.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      cbfeea4e2fb61d3e8b217b6235cfc440307132d681eaa5b2b13b74f4f3f762f5
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    3. Supports Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

      Publication · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1192/bjp.150.6.782 · PMID: 3651732

      Locator
      Abstract, sentence 2, fragment 2 of 2
      How it applies
      Validation reference, part 2.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      cbfeea4e2fb61d3e8b217b6235cfc440307132d681eaa5b2b13b74f4f3f762f5
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    4. Supports Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

      Publication · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1192/bjp.150.6.782 · PMID: 3651732

      Locator
      Abstract, sentence 3
      How it applies
      Sensitivity and specificity described as satisfactory.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      cbfeea4e2fb61d3e8b217b6235cfc440307132d681eaa5b2b13b74f4f3f762f5
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    5. Supports Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

      Publication · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1192/bjp.150.6.782 · PMID: 3651732

      Locator
      Abstract, sentence 4
      How it applies
      Time to complete and scoring.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      cbfeea4e2fb61d3e8b217b6235cfc440307132d681eaa5b2b13b74f4f3f762f5
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

Record details

Record id
maternal:edinburgh-postnatal-depression-scale
Content hash
74b9146505e10059f9ca2f30d199ab5be06d0d311e77fcb9b4189b756b28f338