A survey of the depressive symptoms in pregnant women at an urban primary care consultation office

: We studied the frequency of depression as well as biomedical and social features of 179 pregnant women under control at an urban clinic in metropolitan Santiago. The random sample comprised 38% of all controlled pregnancies. A questionnaire adapted and validated by Florenzano et al was used to appraise depression. The Graffar methodology was used to measure socioeconomic level. Frequency of depressive symptoms was 30% and mean age of depressed women was 27.3 years, similar to non depressed ones (26.1%). A significantly higher proportion of depression was found in single women and those having a dystocic last delivery. The high frequency of depression in this vulnerable group suggests the need for integrated obstetric-psychiatric units to provide a more comprehensive medical care to theses patients.