Prevalence and demographic characteristics
There were a total of 1,341 eligible fathers participated in this study.
After removed 121 of incomplete questionnaires and 33 of self-reported
previously confirmed depression patients, 1,187 valid questionnaires
(88.52%) were included in this study. The prevalence of paternal
perinatal depression evaluated by the EPDS during the COVID-19 epidemic
was 13.82% in this study (Table 1). Participants aged 30-34 years
comprised the highest proportion (44.65%). Most of the participants
were Han nationality (97.56%), and majority of participants educated
with college or more (77.25%). Participants educated with junior high
or below were detected the significantly highest depression rate
(22.22%). More than half of fathers (68.13%) lived in urban city, and
51.90% of fathers had a family income more than 100,000 RMB. Compared
with fathers with family income ≥100,000 RMB, participants with family
income <50,000 RMB were found higher proportion of perinatal
depression (24.20% vs 11.36%, p =0.0004). There was
93.43% of fathers had insurance and fathers without insurance had
higher proportion of perinatal depression (28.21% vs 12.80%,p =0.0001). Almost two-thirds of participants (67.31%) were
first-time fathers and they have significantly lower proportion of
perinatal depression compared with others (11.83% vs 18.41%,p =0.0034).