Effect of Depo-Provera on depression rate in the women referring to the health center of Babol City

In the recent century, rapid growth of population is a threat to human life. Family planning has been of great benefit to family health. Thirteen million women in the world use Depo-Provera as a contraceptive method. Different studies have reported development of depression in Depo-Provera users, and some articles reported that they are ineffective on mood. Therefore assessment of Depo-Provera effects on mood is important. Depression in women can lead to physical, psychological and social reactions. Therefore we decided to assess the effect of Depo-Provera on depression rate in the health center of Babol City. This Study was a Quazi-experimental study. 64 women completed a questionnaire consisted of demographic data before Depo-Provera injection and also Beck Standard Questionnaire before and 3 months after Depo-Provera injection at the health center of Babol City. For data analysis we used Wilcoxon and Fisher`s exact tests. Mean score of depression symptoms before Depo-Provera injection was 6.50±8.2 but three month after injection it was 4.50±6.6 which had a significant difference (p=0.001). Age, education, satisfaction of husband’s job, husband’s literacy, husband’s aid at home, satisfaction with the marital life, family class, family income, child abortion history, outcome of recent pregnancy, satisfaction in relationship with parents in childhood, satisfaction in relationship with family members, support from the family and relatives, satisfaction in relationship with friends and worrisome events during the last year showed no significant relationship with depression before and after Depo-Provera injections. But satisfaction with husband’s family (p=0.034) and history of depression (p=0.026) had a significant relationship with depression before Depo-Provera injection. Also there was a significant relationship between loss of independency and depression before and after Depo-Provera injection (p=0.024, p=0.001). The results of this study showed lack of deterioration of depression by Depo-Provera injections. Therefore appropriate consultation can lead to increased use of Depo-Provera.