Pilot study: Quality of life assessment of postnatal fatigue and other physical morbidity

Abstract

Postnatal morbidity is increasingly recognized, but standard assessments may not capture what is most important to the woman with such morbidity in terms of her quality of life. The Mother-Generated Index (MGI) is a proposed postnatal quality-of-life instrument which allows the mother to determine both content and scoring. In this pilot study we found that although a degree of psychological and physical morbidity (including tiredness) is common, and may be very significant, for most women these factors are low-grade, and other aspects of their lives are more important. A quality-of-life approach allows the mother to determine her own postnatal assessment, and encourages practitioners to view her more holistically.

Quality of life and related factors in women, aged 15–49 in the 12‐month post‐partum period in Turkey

“…Although physical and psychological problems are important in the post‐partum period, matters such as adjustment to motherhood are more pressing. Assessing QoL in this period will allow a woman to make a self‐evaluation of her own postnatal situation and will also assist health providers in regarding the woman as a whole 20 . The purpose of the present study, then, was to determine QoL in women in their first year after giving birth and to examine well‐related individual factors such as sociodemographic and fertility characteristics and environmental factors, namely professional support, family support and the ability of a woman to find time for herself.…”

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“…We found when testing the MGI that although different women would cite similar examples (such as tiredness), the range of scores assigned to this aspect of their life was wide; in addition mothers rated them very differently in terms of their importance. We believe this approach helps to get away from a reliance on 'symptom checklists' which can overstate a problem or result in a medically-derived diagnosis with which the woman might disagree [53,54]. …”

Psychological and physical factors influencing the health-related quality of life of patients of a department of gynecology in a university hospital

“…They are connected with considerable physical, social and emotional changes and thus can intensify psychosomatic discomforts as well as both diseases and impairment in the quality of life. Furthermore, the threefold exposure to motherhood, working and housework, which is often met by women, can both cause exhaustion and also impair women's quality of life [7]. Critical life events as well as acute or chronic diseases also have negative effects on the subjectively felt quality of life.…”

“…There are, however, only few studies with the topic of health-related quality of life, especially in women. Those which exist refer to the context of quality of life and certain stages in life, such as child birth [7], old age [6] or special disease patterns (e.g., endomitosis) [8].…”