Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale - a deterministic tool in Sophie Well's Clinical Scoring & Risk group.
Open the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale → Runs in your browser. No signup, no tracking.
What this is
Score the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), a ten-item validated screen for perinatal and postpartum depression. Each item asks about how the patient has felt in the past seven days, rated 0-3, for a total range of 0-30. The commonly used cutoff for likely depression is 10 or higher, and 13 or higher is more specific. Item 10 asks directly about thoughts of self-harm; any non-zero response on item 10 is a positive screen on its own and requires immediate clinical follow-up regardless of total score.
When to use it
Use this at every routine prenatal visit and at the 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6-month postpartum visits, consistent with ACOG and AAP recommendations for universal perinatal mood screening. The EPDS is also validated for partners and for use during pregnancy, not only after birth. A positive screen is the start of a diagnostic conversation, not the diagnosis itself - the score is meaningful only paired with a same-visit clinical assessment and a documented plan for treatment, referral, or close interval follow-up.
References
Cox JL, Holden JM, Sagovsky R. EPDS. Br J Psychiatry. 1987;150:782-786.
Worked example: Score 7 of 30 = Low likelihood.
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