Paternal Perinatal Depression: risk factors

Background: Paternal Perinatal Depression has an estimated prevalence between 8.4 and 10.4% according to two meta -analyzes, and has been increasingly studied in recent decades. In light of its clinical and economic impact, this disorder deserves due attention from the scientific community. Aims: This paper aims at a descriptive analysis of scientific evidence on Paternal Perinatal Depression, identifying the prevalence, risk factors and the impact on individuals, society and health systems. Methods: Non-systematic literature review was carried out through PubMed, UpToDate, guidelines from the Direcao-Geral da Saude and World Health Organization. Results: Several risk factors for Paternal Perinatal Depression were recognized and can be divided into: individual (age less than 28 years, low educational and socioeconomic level, unemployment, smoking, disordered eating habits, high levels of neuroticism or low self-esteem, father's educational pattern with excessive control or absence of paternal models, negative life events); sociocultural (single, separated or divorced, low marital, family and work support, belonging to ethnic minorities), pregnancy-related (unplanned or undesired pregnancy, instrumented delivery, complications in pregnancy or in child health, pregnancy preceded by fertility treatments), psychiatric (concomitant maternal depression and history of psychiatric illness in men) and hormonal (decreased levels of testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, vasopressin and prolactin). The concomitance of maternal depression is the main risk factor, in which men are at a higher risk (approximately 50%) of developing Paternal Perinatal Depression. Paternal Perinatal Depression has a negative impact, both on the father-child connection, with deleterious effects on the child that can persist until adolescence and adulthood, as well as on the health sector, with an increase in the use of primary health care and hospital care by the depressed parents. Conclusions: In order to increase awareness and early recognition of this clinical entity it is necessary to adopt measures, such as implementation of screening questionnaires, the dissemination of information related to the prevalence, risk factors and possible consequences and the use of technologies in order to enable the detection and resolution of certain risk factors.