BACKGROUND
Perinatal depression (PD) is one of the biggest causes of maternal mortality in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationships between Internet health literacy among expecting and nursing mothers regarding perinatal depression, health information acquisition behaviors, and anxiety about PD.
METHODS
Web-based open survey (30 items, about eight minutes) was conducted anonymously between November 19, 2018, and November 30, 2018. The participants are users of “Luna Luna Baby” (MTI Co Ltd), an app service for expecting and nursing mothers. All participants consented to the research. The Japanese version of eHealth Literacy Scale was measured. All statistical analyses were performed using Stata software, Version 15.0 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX). This study was approved by the Ethics Committee (approval number: 2018-051).
RESULTS
Valid responses were received from 2,979 individuals (1,987 pregnant women, 969 post-childbirth, and 21 others). More than 50% of participants felt they have a risk of developing PD. Most information about PD was acquired from websites during pregnancy (40.1 to 52.0%), while only 15.0% came from the medical institutions. A high-eHealth Literacy Scale group had a significantly higher awareness about postpartum depression (74.7% vs 48.7%), and fewer feelings that they were developing PD (47.4% vs 58.5%).
CONCLUSIONS
The result suggest that medical institutions may not provide adequate information about PD during pregnancy and the accurate knowledge of the disease might alleviate the anxieties.