Impact of maternal depression and anxiety on immunization status of children: a prospective cohort study

Maternal depression and anxiety can have a detrimental impact on birth outcomes and healthy child development; there is limited knowledge on its influence on immunization schedule adherence. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the impact of maternal depression and anxiety in the perinatal period on prolonged vaccine delay of childhood vaccines.

In this prospective cohort study, we analyzed linked survey and administrative data of 2,762 pregnant women in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Data were collected at two time-points: prenatal (< 25 weeks of gestation) and postpartum (4 months postpartum). We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between depression and anxiety with prolonged immunization delay, adjusting for covariates.

In multivariable analysis, maternal depression at either time point was not associated with prolonged delay for DTaP-IPV-Hib (OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.74–1.82), MMR/MMRV (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.72–1.48), or all routine childhood vaccines combined (OR 1.32, 95% CI 0.86–2.04). Maternal anxiety at either time point was also not associated with prolonged delayed for DTaP-IPV-Hib (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.77–1.53), MMR/MMRV (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.82–1.40), or all vaccines combined (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.80–1.26). In both the depression and anxiety models, children of Canadian-born mothers had higher odds of prolonged delay, as did those with low-income mothers.

Health care providers can be reassured that maternal depression and anxiety do not appear to influence maternal commitment to routine immunization. Findings suggested that low income and household moves may influence adherence to vaccine schedules and health care providers may want to provide anticipatory guidance to these families.