Assessment Scales, Associated Factors and the Quality of Life Score in Pregnant Women in Iran

Farideh Kazemi,Fatemeh Nahidi,Nourossadat Kariman

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v8n11p127

Abstract

Women experience physical, chemical, endocrine gland and organ changes during pregnancy that limit their activities and reduce their quality of life. The present study was conducted to investigate the quality of life in pregnant women in Iran, the assessment scales used to measure this variable and the factors associated with it.The present study searched databases including Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, SID, Iranmedex, Mahiran, IranDoc and Google Scholar using keywords such as pregnant women, Iran, quality of life, pregnancy and prenatal and their Persian equivalents to find relevant articles conducted in Iran and ultimately found 20 articles to review without any regard for their time, language and publication site.Studies conducted in Iran to assess the quality of life in pregnant women have used four tools, including the SF-36, the WHOQOL-BRIEF, the SF-12 and the Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire. The mean quality of life score obtained using these different tools varied from 61.18±13.21 to 66.48±15.57. Social support, socioeconomic status, the pregnancy being wanted, satisfaction with life and sexual function were related directly to the quality of life, while prenatal mental disorders, the severity of pregnancy nausea and vomiting and sleep disorders were related inversely to it.Given the lack of a specific tool designed to assess the quality of life in pregnant women, general tools were used for its assessment. Further studies are thus required to design a specific localized tool and to also assess the relationship between the quality of life and its associated factors.

Highlights

Pregnancy is a major event in a woman's life
The review of the literature showed that, just as in other countries, studies conducted in Iran had used general tools to assess quality of life during pregnancy due to the lack of a specific tool designed for this purpose
The problem with these general tools is that they neglect the dimensions that are relevant to specific groups of people, such as pregnant women, and fail to identify major post-treatment or post-intervention clinical changes (Mogos, August, Salinas-Miranda, Sultan, & Salihu, 2013)

Summary

Introduction

Pregnancy is a major event in a woman's life. Women experience physical, chemical, endocrine gland and organ changes during pregnancy (Hama et al, 2008; Li et al, 2012) and symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headache, loss of appetite, heartburn, hemorrhoids and shortness of breath (Makvandi & Etemadi Kermani, 2012). Since 1948, when the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, the quality of life has become a more important issue in health care and research activities (Testa & Simonson, 1996). The WHO defines quality of life as “an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value system in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations and standards and concerns” (World Health Organization, 1996). Pregnancy care aims at favorable maternal and neonatal outcomes, it is important to note that a woman's lifestyle during pregnancy is affected by the changes occurring during this www.ccsenet.org/gjhs

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