Validation study of the French version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS): new results about use and psychometric properties

The validation of the French version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), conducted on a sample of 87 women in the first 4 months of post-partum, is presented. The study of the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values versus research diagnosis criteria provide the cut-off score of 10.5 as the best (sensitivity: 0.80; specificity: 0.92). The EPDS as an index of severity of postnatal depression (PND) also had good criterion validity compared to the psychiatrist's assessment. Factor analysis shows that the internal structure of the EPDS is composed of two subscales which underline a more accurate description of PND. The reliability study confirms the good internal consistency of the global scale (Cronbach's alpha: 0.76) and its good short term test-retest reliability (0.98). (C) 1998, Elsevier, Paris.