Eating disorders and trauma history in women with perinatal depression.
Meltzer-Brody S, Zerwas S, Leserman J, Holle AV, Regis T, Bulik C. J Womens Health. 2011 Jun;20(6):863-70.
We examined the prevalence of comorbid eating disorders and trauma history in women with perinatal depression. We studied 158 consecutive patients seen in the UNC perinatal psychiatry clinic during pregnancy (n=99) or postpartum (n=59). In this group of women, 37.1% reported a lifetime eating disorder history; 10.1% reported anorexia nervosa, 10.1% reported bulimia nervosa, 10.1% reported eating disorders not otherwise specified-purging subtype, and 7.0% reported binge eating disorder. Women with histories of bulimia reported more severe depression than women with perinatal depression and no eating disorders history and women with anorexia nervosa were more likely to report sexual trauma history and women with bulimia were more likely report physical and sexual trauma histories than the women with no eating disorders. Eating disorders histories were present in over one third of admissions to a perinatal psychiatry clinic. These findings underscore the importance of screening for eating disorders in women with perinatal depression.
Exchanges 