The impact of postpartum in-home and telephone supportive counseling on maternal quality of life: A randomized controlled clinical trial

BackgroundHaving good Quality of Life (QoL) is essential, particularly for women after childbirth. However, little is known about the factors associated with maternal QoL after giving birth. We aimed to investigate the relationship between characteristics of the mother (socio-demographic variables), selected symptoms (depression and joy/anger), health perception (perception of birth) and possible characteristics of the environment (infant temperament, colic, sleep, parental relationship), with mothers’ overall quality of life when the child is 6 months of age.MethodsThis study is based on the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), conducted at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health from June 1999 to December 2008, which included a total of 86,724 children. Maternal QoL was assessed by the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Joy and anger were measured using the Differential Emotional Scale, mothers’ mental health was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and satisfaction with relationship was measured using the Relationship Satisfaction Scale. Child temperament was measured using the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire and colic, sleep duration and feelings related to childbirth were assessed by mothers’ reports. The associations between life satisfaction and selected variables were analysed using stepwise multiple linear regression models, and the results are presented as effect sizes (ES).ResultsMaternal feelings of joy of having a baby (ES = 0.35), high relationship satisfaction (ES = 0.32), as well as having a baby with normal sleep (ES = 0.31), are factors associated with higher maternal overall QoL. Postnatal depression was negatively associated with mothers’ QoL, and infant colic or child’s temperament (fussiness) showed no such association with mothers’ QoL.ConclusionsHealth professionals and clinicians should focus on infants sleep but also on supporting joy of motherhood and strengthening relationships of the new parents when they develop health interventions or provide counselling to new mothers and their families.

Systematic literature review of quality-of-life questionnaires in Waldenström macroglobulinaemia-need for a disease-specific tool.

Survey of the Relevance of Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaires (QoLQs) Currently Used to Evaluate Multiple Myeloma (MM) Patients' Qol in Real-World MM Patients and Healthcare Professionals (HCPs)

Timing of quality of life assessment in cancer clinical trials: fine tuning remains a challenge

Introduction and Objective: The transition to adulthood for adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) presents unique challenges for mothers who must balance their child’s growing independence with their own quality of life (QoL) and the demands of diabetes management. This study aimed to explore the influence of social support and T1D-related distress on maternal QoL during their child’s transition to adulthood. Methods: This convergent parallel mixed methods study explored maternal experiences during the transition to adulthood. In addition to demographic and clinical data, quantitative data were collected from 72 mothers of adolescents and young adults with T1D (ages 15-25) using validated measures, including the Type 1 Diabetes and Life Measure, the Parent Diabetes Distress Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of 12 mothers to capture qualitative insights into challenges and role transitions. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed independently and merged during interpretation to identify converging and diverging themes. Results: Quantitative findings revealed significant negative associations between maternal diabetes-related distress and QoL, particularly in emotional experiences and parent-young adult relationships. Perceived social support from family and friends showed small but positive correlations with QoL. Qualitative analysis highlighted themes of disrupted sleep, persistent anxiety, and loss of control as primary contributors to distress. Mothers expressed concerns about their child’s readiness for self-management and difficulties relinquishing management responsibilities. Conclusion: This study underscores the impact of diabetes-related distress on maternal QoL during the transition to adulthood. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to reduce maternal distress, enhance support systems, and facilitate healthier transitions for both mothers and their children. Disclosure M. Ness: None. J. Saylor: None. Funding Towson University: OSPR Seed Funding for Grantseekers

Better maternal quality of life in pregnancy yields better offspring respiratory outcomes: A birth cohort

Quality of life (QOL) is commonly measured in asthma clinical trials by a questionnaire given before and after treatment. A structured asthma QOL daily diary provides more restricted information but on a daily basis. The validity and use of such a QOL diary was examined in a clinical trial in which two asthma treatments were compared. The effects of low dose inhaled steroid (400 micrograms beclomethasone dipropionate, BDP) combined with the long acting beta 2 agonist salmeterol (100 micrograms) (n = 220) was compared with high dose inhaled steroid (1000 micrograms BDP) (n = 206) in asthmatic outpatients in a double blind, parallel group study. Outcome measures consisted of a combined diary for peak expiratory flow (PEF) rate, symptoms, and problems, and an asthma-specific QOL questionnaire, the Living with Asthma Questionnaire. The QOL diary correlated with the QOL questionnaire for both cross sectional and longitudinal assessments. Cross sectional correlations with PEF were higher for the QOL questionnaire than the QOL diary, but longitudinal correlations with PEF were higher for the diary than the questionnaire. Treatment with low dose steroid/salmeterol compared with high dose steroid produced better lung function, better QOL as measured by diary, and reduced night time wakenings, but treatment differences were not obtained with the QOL questionnaire nor for daytime symptoms. Diary assessed QOL was a better predictor of low PEF than diary assessed symptoms. Compliance with diary completion was good but there were floor or ceiling effects in the QOL diary records of about 25% of patients. Structured QOL diaries are valid instruments that appear to be more responsive to longitudinal change in clinical trials than a QOL questionnaire, but QOL questionnaires provide a more sensitive cross sectional measure of disease severity. Floor and ceiling effects are found in some patients' QOL diaries which limit their usefulness. QOL diary problem events occur during the troughs of a peak flow graph, while symptoms are more widely distributed with respect to peak flow.

Associations Between Health-related Quality of Life, Eating Behavior and Gastrointestinal Tolerance Among Exclusively Breastfed Infant-Mother Dyads in the Philippines (P11-107-19)

This study examined the relationship between the breastfeeding efficacy and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of 89 mothers from southern Brazil. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore correlations between maternal QoL and breastfeeding efficacy in Brazil. Research participants completed the Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF and Multicultural Quality of Life Index questionnaires. Breastfeeding efficacy was evaluated through the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF). Correlations between the scores of the QoL instruments and the BSES-SF were examined using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. There were significant correlations among the scores of the two QoL questionnaires and the BSES-SF. Multiple regression analysis revealed that both QoL instruments significantly predicted BSES-SF scores. Neither socioeconomic status nor level of educational attainment was a significant predictor of breastfeeding efficacy. The results from the present study indicate that breastfeeding efficacy is significantly related to QoL among mothers in southern Brazil. The association between QoL and breastfeeding efficacy appears to be independent from any effect of socioeconomic status or level of educational achievement.

Quality of life research, it’s only the beginning

BackgroundPreterm birth is a significant cause of newborn morbidity and mortality and strains society’s healthcare resources due to its long-term effects on the health of the newborn. Prenatal maternal quality of life (QoL) may be related to the occurrence of preterm birth and low birthweight infants. Few studies, however, have investigated maternal QoL, especially throughout the continuum of pregnancy and the immediate postpartum period. Therefore, the purposes of this longitudinal study were to measure the levels of QoL during and immediately after pregnancy in women with uncomplicated pregnancies, investigate the relationships between the dimensions of QoL, and determine whether prenatal QoL can predict preterm birth and low birthweight.MethodsUsing convenience sampling in one hospital in Taiwan, we recruited 198 pregnant women without pregnancy complications after 24 gestational weeks and followed up monthly until one-month postpartum. The Duke Health Profile was used to measure QoL. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, generalized estimation equations, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical logistic regression.ResultsPregnant women did not perceive that they had a high level of QoL. Women at late pregnancy experienced a significant decrease in their level of physical and general health. After childbirth, although the mothers had better physical health, they had poorer social health. Poor QoL at late pregnancy predicted preterm birth. Employment, parity, educational level, and happiness about pregnancy were related to prenatal maternal QoL; employment was a factor related to postpartum maternal QoL.ConclusionsEarly assessment of QoL, including its dimensions, of pregnant women may help us to understand women’s health status. Based on this understanding, healthcare professionals can develop interventions to promote pregnant women’s QoL and to lessen the occurrence of preterm birth and low birthweight infants. Further, an emphasis on the positive aspects of pregnancy may increase maternal QoL.

Improvements in quality of life (QOL) obtained by weight loss have mainly been reported after bariatric surgery. QOL has not been investigated in surgical patients first losing weight by nonsurgical means followed by a surgical intervention and never simultaneously by two QOL-a generic and a disease-specific-questionnaires. Prospective data were obtained from 40 consecutive patients (mean age 36.6 years, body weight 142.4 kg, body mass index (BMI) 46.5 kg/m2). Two different QOL questionnaires, the generic Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the disease-specific Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) questionnaire, were evaluated at three points in time: at the start, 3 months after the placement of an intragastric balloon that remained in situ for 6 months, and 3 months after subsequent gastric banding. QOL scores revealed a significant improvement in many health domains, with an earlier improvement with the disease-specific HRQL, whereas the generic QOL questionnaire lagged behind. However, in the end, the SF-36 caught up completely to normal-weight levels, whereas some scales of the HRQL remained below these levels. Work productivity and involvement in sports improved significantly. BMI declined significantly over time, but no correlation with SF-36 and HRQL score changes was found. The QOL improved substantially independent of changes in BMI. Because of the divergent outcomes of generic and disease-specific QOL questionnaires, prospective studies should examine the sensitivity to changes of both kinds of QOL questionnaires.

Quality of life is important to achieve the best performance of mothers. Maternal quality of life is usually measured by WHOQOL-BREF standards (quality of life of the World Health Organization-BREF), SF-36 (Short-36), or MGI (Mother Generated Index). One factor that affects the maternal quality of life is breastfeeding. The practice of breastfeeding is the mother who is breastfeeding (giving only breast milk) and the mother who is not breastfeeding (with formula milk) as well as seeing the length of breastfeeding time for less than 6 months or more than 6 months. This literature review has research question with PICO standard to get the aim about the correlation between the practice of breastfeeding and maternal quality of life. 466 literatures were obtained from the SCOPUS, Proquest, Google Scholar, PubMed and EBSCOhost databases. Literature screening is done by looking at the inclusion and exclusion criteria that have been set so that 10 literatures will be reviewed. Most of the literature reports that mothers who breastfeed and continue to breastfeed even though only a month has a better quality of life than mothers who did not breastfeed. One study said that breastfeeding causes a decrease in the maternal quality of life, as well as several other studies that found no significant correlation between breastfeeding practices and maternal quality of life. This result can be used as a reference for the health policy to promote breastfeeding and quality of life.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common pregnancy complications, associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Pharmaceutical care, including structured patient education and medication management, has been shown to improve treatment adherence, glycemic control, and maternal quality of life in GDM.¹˒² Aim: To analyze the impact of a pharmaceutical care plan on pregnant women with GDM through quantitative and qualitative outcomes. Methods: A prospective interventional study was conducted for three months in a tertiary care hospital. Of 100 screened participants, 50 pregnant women with poor adherence and low knowledge scores were enrolled and equally divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received structured counseling and a patient information leaflet (PIL). Outcomes assessed included glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), quality of life (QOL; DSQOL, ADS), and medication adherence (MMAS-8). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.Results: After intervention, HbA1c improved significantly in the intervention group compared to control (p < 0.05). Quality of life scores improved across physical, emotional, and social domains in the intervention group, while no notable changes were seen in the control group. Adherence improved markedly in the intervention group, whereas the control group showed minimal change. Conclusion: Pharmaceutical care interventions significantly improved glycemic control, adherence, and quality of life in women with GDM. These findings highlight the importance of integrating pharmacists into multidisciplinary antenatal care teams to optimize maternal and neonatal outcomes.

To investigate the psychometric properties of the Visual Function (VF) and Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaires, using the Rasch measurement model. Four hundred eighty-nine patients with cataract awaiting surgery, drawn from the surgical waiting list of the Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, were mailed the VF and QOL questionnaires for self-administration. Rasch analysis was undertaken to assess the following properties: measurement of a single construct (i.e., unidimensionality by fit statistics and principal components analysis), discrimination between strata of participant ability (person separation, recommended minimum value 2.0), targeting of item difficulty to participant ability, and differential item functioning (DIF, whether items function similarly for different subgroups and notable DIF defined as >1.0 logit). The VF questionnaire fit the Rasch model showing good metric properties, including unidimensionality, and was free of notable DIF. The QOL questionnaire showed inadequate person separation, two misfitting items and significant multidimensionality (Eigenvalue of 2.3 for the first contrast), suggesting the presence of a separate subscale, self-care, but this was not valid because of inadequate person separation. Deleting these contrasting items from the QOL questionnaire removed multidimensionality and item misfit but did not improve person separation, indicating that it could not effectively discriminate between the participant's QOL. Both VF and QOL questionnaires demonstrated poor targeting (-2.22 and -3.26 logits, respectively), indicating that items were too easy and participants had higher QOL than that the items allowed for. Three items in the QOL questionnaire demonstrated notable DIF by age and systemic comorbidity. None of the subscales functioned optimally. The QOL questionnaire is not a valid measure of QOL. However, the VF questionnaire is a reliable and valid measure of visual disability in patients with cataract, and although targeting was suboptimal in a developed country, it may be optimal in a developing country as was originally intended.