Nicotine Dependence and Postpartum Depression: A Multicenter Research Network Study

Abstract

Background

Many people who have recently delivered a baby (puerperae) experience postpartum depression. The aim of this study is to examine nicotine dependence within the 5 years prior to delivery (ND5y) as a factor.

Methods

Data from TriNetX Research Network platform were used. Analysis involved determining risk ratios of postpartum depression among puerperae with/without ND5y in umatched cohorts and propensity score matched cohorts.

Results

The unmatched sample included 1,460 (13.8%) postpartum puerperae with diagnosed ND5y and 9,138 (86.2%) postpartum puerperae without ND5yt. The matched sample included 1,362 participants with and 1,362 participants without ND5y diagnosis. The unmatched and matched risk ratios were 1.75 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.55, 1.98; p < 0.0001) and 0.68 (95% [CI]: 0.59, 0.79; p < 0.0001), respectively.

Conclusion

Postpartum depression was associated with ND5y in the unmatched sample analysis, but not in the matched sample analysis. As a potential mechanism is unknown, it is possible that some of the matched variables have a shared mechanism with post-partum depression and matching may have masked the true relationship. Therefore, both the unmatched and propensity matched analyses are presented as both have important relevance and may spur future research with non-clinical-based data.

Keywords:

• Postpartum
• postpartum depression
• nicotine
• nicotine dependence
• epidemiology
• pregnancy and postpartum

Acknowledgments

Research reported in this manuscript was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award 5U54GM104942-07. The content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Authors’ contributions

Responsibility: The author accepts responsibility for the conduct of the study, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, meeting the definition of an author, and approving the final version. Neither the article or any essential part of it will be published or submitted elsewhere before appearing in the Journal, if accepted

Data deposition information

Data are held and are available through TriNetX membership (https://trinetx.com/).

Declaration of interest statement

The author reports no known conflicts of interest.

Ethical statement

The West Virginia University Institutional Review Board acknowledges this study as non-human subject research, protocol number 2010154420.

Additional information

Funding

National Instutue of General Medical Sciences