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. 2016 May 11;10(2):e3993.
doi: 10.17795/ijpbs-3993. eCollection 2016 Jun.

Quality of Life Evaluation in Iranian Postpartum Women With and Without Striae Gravidarum

Masoumeh Kordi  1 , Farzaneh Rashidi Fakari  2 , Seyed Reza Mazloum  3 , Pouran Layegh  4
Affiliations

Quality of Life Evaluation in Iranian Postpartum Women With and Without Striae Gravidarum

Masoumeh Kordi et al. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Striae are a common change during pregnancy, leaving striae in various body parts after delivery, which most women find unpleasant. They create a big aesthetic concern for most women. Although striae do not endanger the mother and the fetus, they may cause a desire to scratch the region leading to small wounds, induce stress over beauty, decrease self-confidence, and create psychological disorders. They may try various treatments and often refer to dermatology clinics and receive long-term treatments; these time-consuming and costly behaviors and may affect their quality of life.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in Iranian postpartum women with and without striae gravidarum.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 145 women who had referred to health centers of Mashhad to receive post-delivery health care six weeks after delivery during year 2013. Multi-stage sampling was applied to select the participants. The tools used were demographic, SF-36 quality of life, Skindex29, Atwal and Fitzpatrick classification questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the SPSS V.11.5 software.

Results: The subjects' mean age was 26.3 ± 5.7. Mann-Whitney test showed there was a significant difference between mean of Skindex29 and its dimensions (P < 0.001), general life quality (P < 0.001) in women with and without striae. Mann-Whitney test showed no significant difference between mean general quality of life dimension, except physical function in women with and without striae (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: The results showed that striae lead to reduced quality of general life and reduced skin quality index in women postpartum.

Keywords: Postpartum; Quality of Life; Striae Gravidarum.

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