Perinatal and infant mental health care in Austria. A mapping of existing prevention, screening and care structures, with a specific focus on Tyrol

Zechmeister-Koss I
Record ID 32018004805
English
Authors' objectives: Up to 20% of women and 10% of men suffer from mental health problems such as depression or anxiety disorders during pregnancy until 1 year after birth (perinatal period). If left untreated, these problems often have negative consequences for the parent, but most importantly for child development and child health. They also result in high economic costs, for example in the education and social sector. Many countries therefore prioritise measures to improve mental health around birth. This report provides a mapping of the Austrian prevention and care structure based on publicly available information.
Authors' results and conclusions: There are no valid data on the prevalence of perinatal mental health problems in Austria. Applying the international prevalence data to Austria, we can assume about 16,000 affected mothers and 8,000 affected fathers per year. Currently there is no systematic screening for perinatal mental illness in Austria, as recommended and implemented in other countries. The recommended integration of such a screening into the national screening programme (Mutter-Kind-Pass) has not yet been implemented. There is also a lack of defined care pathways for different degrees of severity of perinatal mental problems. Although there are several services that can be used by parents with perinatal mental health illness (e.g. ‘Frühe Hilfen’), specialised perinatal mental health care is only available to a limited extent and not in every Austrian region. The number of available mother-child beds for severe mental health problems after childbirth deviates significantly from international recommendations.
Authors' recommendations: The current care situation reflects a low health and socio-political priority of the topic. In addition to reducing regional inequalities and improving specialised services, an improvement of the situation must also focus on the structural determinants of mental illness during the perinatal period (e.g. risk of poverty, domestic violence, lack of social support).
Authors' methods: This report provides a mapping of the Austrian prevention and care structure based on publicly available information.
Details
Project Status: Completed
URL for project: https://aihta.at/page/mitgestaltung-der-peripartalen-psychiatrischen-versorgung-in-tirol/en
Year Published: 2023
URL for published report: https://eprints.aihta.at/1437/1/HTA-Projektbericht_Nr.151.pdf
URL for additional information: https://eprints.aihta.at/1437/
English language abstract: An English language summary is available
Publication Type: Full HTA
Country: Austria
MeSH Terms
  • Perinatal Care
  • Infant Care
  • Infant Health
  • Mental Health Services
  • Mental Health
  • Depression
  • Infant Welfare
  • Parents
  • Mothers
  • Fathers
  • Diagnostic Screening Programs
  • Pregnancy
Keywords
  • Perinatal mental illness
  • postnatal depression
  • screening
  • perinatal and infant mental health
  • mental health care
  • prevention
Contact
Organisation Name: Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment
Contact Address: Garnisongasse 7/20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Contact Name: office@aihta.at
Contact Email: office@aihta.at
Copyright: HTA Austria - AIHTA GmbH
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.