New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) A novel artificial intelligence (AI) model may now help identify signs of childbirth-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CB-PTSD) in women, according to a study conducted by researchers from Israel and the US.
Globally, CB-PTSD affects about eight million people who give birth each year. Current methods for diagnosing CB-PTSD require a physician evaluation, which is time-consuming and costly.
If left untreated, the condition may interfere with breastfeeding, bonding with the infant, and the desire for a future pregnancy.
CB-PTSD may also worsen maternal depression, leading to a surge in suicidal thoughts and behaviours in women.
The study, appearing in the journal Scientific Reports, showed that AI could successfully identify a large proportion of people with the disorder and a large percentage of those at risk.
The study included 1,295 postpartum participants who were subjected to a questionnaire. The participants also provided short narratives of approximately 30 words about their childbirth experience.
Researchers from the Bar-Ilan University in Israel, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in the US trained an AI model to analyse a subset of narratives from patients who also tested high for the CB-PTSD symptoms on the questionnaire.
“Overall, the model correctly identified the narratives of participants who were likely to have CB-PTSD because they scored high on the questionnaire,” researchers said.