Abstract

Purpose: The Edinbergh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) has seen widespread use in epidemiological and clinical studies. The objective of this research was to translate and to test the reliability and validity of the 10-item EDPS in Korea. Methods: Subjects were 145 women who were 6 to 10 weeks post delivery. To test reliability, the internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Validity testing was performed using convergent validity by Pearson's correlation. Data was gathered at 3 hospitals during Oct. 2005 after obtaining an informed consent. Result: The mean age of the subjects was 29.9 years. and the mean parity was 1.46 times. The mean EPDS score was 18.4. Reliability analysis showed a satisfactory result (Cronbach's alpha coefficient=.84). There were significant positive correlations between EPDS and Mills postnatal depression and anxiety check list scores as expected(r=.69, p<.001) and thus supported convergent validity. Conclusion: The study findings showed that the Korean version of the EPDS-10 is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used for measuring postnatal depression in Korea.

Keywords

• Depression;
• Reliability;
• Validity