Prevalence and risk factors for depression in native and immigrant pregnant women in a Health Region- retrospective cohort study. [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

Background We analysed the prevalence of depression under among pregnant women both in the immigrant and native populations in a Health Region of Spain, and evaluated the maternal factors associated with it. Methods We performed a retrospective observational cohort study in pregnant women in the Health Region of Lleida between 2012 and 2018. We analysed the following variables: age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus, hypertension, country of origin, and antidepressant drug prescribed. We performed a multivariate analysis and obtained the linear regression coefficients and their 95% confidence interval (CI). Results In a sample of 17177 pregnant women, 2.5% had a diagnosis of depression. The patients with depression had an average age of 32 years (SD 5.56) compared to the rest of the women who had an average age of 30 (SD 5.85) years of age. Obesity was present in 17.7% of patients with depression compared to 14.3% in the rest. A high percentage of women from Western Europe presented depression (2.9%); followed by women from Latin America (2.6%) and Eastern Europe (2.3%). The values for Africa, (0.8%) and Asia and the Middle East (0.5%) were significantly lower. We did not observe any relationship between depression and hypothyroidism, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Conclusions In our study, we found a prevalence of depression similar to the one found in other publications. As main risk factors, we identified age, weight, and geographical origin.