The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: Validation for an Australian Sample

Abstract

One hundred and three post-partum women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. A cut-off score of 12.5 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale identified all nine women who reached criteria for major depression. At this threshold the sensitivity (the percentage of true “cases’ identified) of the EPDS was 100%, its specificity (the percentage of true “non-cases’ identified as such) 95.7% and its positive predictive value (the percentage of all those tested as positive who were correctly identified as such) 69.2%. Although this study supported the validity of the EPDS, a replication of this study on a larger sample is suggested.