What outcomes should be measured to evaluate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health
What outcomes should be measured to evaluate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health
The physical and mental health of women antenatally and postnatally has been described as fundamentally important to the development of children and the family. Exercise was proposed as a strategy to support maternal mental health, such as postnatal depression with an emphasis on structured and supervised activities. However, a recent systematic review by Saligheh et al (2017) revealed inconsistencies in the evidence base and could not confirm that exercise reduced symptoms of postnatal depression. This study aims to analyse the current evidence base to determine what outcomes should be measured to evaluate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health. The research concludes that using a quantitative methodological approach, predominantly using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score as a primary outcome measure, does not appear to capture the effects of exercise on postnatal depression and anxiety. Further research using a qualitative approach is recommended to identify outcomes that should be measured to demonstrate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health.
Brenchley, Dawn
63304092-8246-44f2-8a0c-73639d88e44a
Mancz, Gilly
5a8a7e38-7544-4994-98cc-ead41526e3f7
Brenchley, Dawn
63304092-8246-44f2-8a0c-73639d88e44a
Mancz, Gilly
5a8a7e38-7544-4994-98cc-ead41526e3f7
Brenchley, Dawn and Mancz, Gilly
(2019)
What outcomes should be measured to evaluate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health.
Journal of Health Visiting.
Abstract
The physical and mental health of women antenatally and postnatally has been described as fundamentally important to the development of children and the family. Exercise was proposed as a strategy to support maternal mental health, such as postnatal depression with an emphasis on structured and supervised activities. However, a recent systematic review by Saligheh et al (2017) revealed inconsistencies in the evidence base and could not confirm that exercise reduced symptoms of postnatal depression. This study aims to analyse the current evidence base to determine what outcomes should be measured to evaluate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health. The research concludes that using a quantitative methodological approach, predominantly using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score as a primary outcome measure, does not appear to capture the effects of exercise on postnatal depression and anxiety. Further research using a qualitative approach is recommended to identify outcomes that should be measured to demonstrate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health.
Text
What outcomes should be measured to evaluate the benefits of exercise to maternal mental health
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Accepted/In Press date: 19 August 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 19 September 2019
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 435260
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/435260
ISSN: 2050-8719
PURE UUID: ec8915d3-0335-4b1a-8edf-1653e31ee8a1
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Date deposited: 29 Oct 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:55
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Contributors
Author:
Dawn Brenchley
Author:
Gilly Mancz
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