A team of researchers from the Medical Psychology Service of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC), led by Professor António Ferreira de Macedo, has just obtained funding of 200 thousand euros to implement a pioneering program at an international level, which aims to minimize the high negative impact of Perinatal Depression (pregnancy and postpartum).
The project “Screening, prevention and early intervention in perinatal depression – Effectiveness of a new primary health care program” is funded by the Public Health Initiatives Program, European Economic Area Grants (EEA-Grants), of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2009-2014, resulting from the memorandum of understanding signed between the Portuguese State and the donor countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).
In a generic way, the project, coordinated by the researcher Ana Telma Pereira, consists, in a first phase, in the application to a vast representative sample of Portuguese women, recruited in primary health care and maternity hospitals in the regions of Coimbra and Aveiro, from a new predictive autoresponder test entitled “Screening and Prevention of Perinatal Depression”.
Developed from scratch at the University of Coimbra, by the Medical Psychology Service team, the test assesses symptoms and risk factors, allowing to predict which women are more likely to have depression during pregnancy and in the postpartum period.
At the same time, the team will carry out clinical trials (in terms of prevention and early intervention), in order to validate the effectiveness of the screening program.
Ana Telma Pereira explains that the main objective of the investigation, which continues the scientific work developed in the last decade by the Medical Psychology Service of FMUC, and which resulted in many publications and international presentations, is to «continue to contribute to minimizing the high impact negative of Perinatal Depression. Note that although Perinatal Depression is a preventable and treatable public health problem, without screening programs less than 10% of affected women receive treatment.”
“All women in the perinatal period will potentially benefit from this intervention, as they will all be given the opportunity to be evaluated for the presence of symptoms of perinatal depression and associated risk factors. All those who maintain or who are diagnosed with the pathology will be referred for external psychiatric consultation, for evaluation and specialized treatment by members of the research team, at the Integrated Responsibility Center for Psychiatry and Mental Health of the Hospital and University Center of Coimbra». concludes the researcher.
Author: Cristina Pinto (Press Office – University of Coimbra)
Science in the Regional Press – Ciência Viva
Comments