Assessment of quality of life indicators in the postpartum period

Abstract

Background: Quality of life assessments are increasingly recognised in healthcare. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric characteristics of Nottingham Health Profile in the postpartum period.

Methods: A random sample of 133 English speaking women completed the scale in hospital between 24 and 48h of delivery and again at 7days postpartum. Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate psychometric parameters of the questionnaire.

Results: The questionnaire indicated that in the acute setting, physical ability, energy level and pain were most affected. At follow-up, women described greatest difficulties with energy level and pain domains. The scores for physical ability, pain, sleep and energy level improved compared to baseline (P<0.05). Women who had caesarean delivery had lower scores for physical ability, pain and energy level domains at 1-2week follow-up compared to the vaginal delivery group (P<0.05).

Conclusions: The scale was found to be suitable for evaluation of quality of life in a population of postpartum women. However a more culturally and geographically diverse population is needed to test reliability and validity of the instrument.