TY - JOUR
T1 - Mental health of the mothers of malnourished children
AU - De Miranda, Claudio Torres
AU - Turecki, Gustavo
AU - De Jesus Mari, Jair
AU - Andreoli, Sérgio Baxter
AU - Marcolim, Marco Antonio
AU - Goihman, Samuel
AU - Puccini, Rosana
AU - Strom, Brian L.
AU - Berlin, Jesse A.
N1 - Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Funded by a grant from The Rockefeller
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - The objective of this study is to measure the association between protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) in children and their mothers' mental health, in a low income area in the city of Embu, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Methods. A case-control study was performed. Cases were 60 moderately and severely malnourished children (Gomez criteria) selected from two primary health care units. Controls consisted of 45 eutrophic children attending the same units, The main outcome measure was for the mothers to present a mental health score > 6 according with the 'Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Questionnaire' (QMPA), a psychiatric screening instrument. Results. Of mothers of children with PEM, 63% and 38% of mothers in the control group were QMPA positive: odds ratio (OR) = 2.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]:1.2-6.9). Of PEM children, 27% had low birthweight (LBW = < 2500 g) and 6% of the control group had LBW. Interactions were found between: mothers' mental health and number of children (with ≥ 4 children: OR = 20.0 [95% CI:2.1-274.2], with ≤ 3 children: OR = 1.6 [95% CI:0.6-4.5), as well as mothers' mental health and maternal age (in women > 30: OR = 12.5 [95% CI:2.0-93.4], in women ≤ 30:OR = 1.5 [95% CI:0.5-4.4], Conclusions. Mothers of children with PEM showed a higher rate of mental disturbances than mothers of eutrophic children. Unlike LBW, maternal age and number of children interact with mothers' mental health, increasing the association. Management of poor mental health may lead to mothers being better caretakers of their children and this may have a positive impact on PEM.
AB - The objective of this study is to measure the association between protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) in children and their mothers' mental health, in a low income area in the city of Embu, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Methods. A case-control study was performed. Cases were 60 moderately and severely malnourished children (Gomez criteria) selected from two primary health care units. Controls consisted of 45 eutrophic children attending the same units, The main outcome measure was for the mothers to present a mental health score > 6 according with the 'Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Questionnaire' (QMPA), a psychiatric screening instrument. Results. Of mothers of children with PEM, 63% and 38% of mothers in the control group were QMPA positive: odds ratio (OR) = 2.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]:1.2-6.9). Of PEM children, 27% had low birthweight (LBW = < 2500 g) and 6% of the control group had LBW. Interactions were found between: mothers' mental health and number of children (with ≥ 4 children: OR = 20.0 [95% CI:2.1-274.2], with ≤ 3 children: OR = 1.6 [95% CI:0.6-4.5), as well as mothers' mental health and maternal age (in women > 30: OR = 12.5 [95% CI:2.0-93.4], in women ≤ 30:OR = 1.5 [95% CI:0.5-4.4], Conclusions. Mothers of children with PEM showed a higher rate of mental disturbances than mothers of eutrophic children. Unlike LBW, maternal age and number of children interact with mothers' mental health, increasing the association. Management of poor mental health may lead to mothers being better caretakers of their children and this may have a positive impact on PEM.
KW - Case-control
KW - Low birthweight
KW - Malnutrition
KW - Mental health
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U2 - 10.1093/ije/25.1.128
DO - 10.1093/ije/25.1.128
M3 - Article
C2 - 8666480
AN - SCOPUS:9044240479
SN - 0300-5771
VL - 25
SP - 128
EP - 133
JO - International journal of epidemiology
JF - International journal of epidemiology
IS - 1
ER -