Trajectory and Determinants of Quality of Life Among Postpartum Women

Abstract

Background: The postpartum period is a critical phase in which postpartum women experience dynamic changes in their physiology, psychology, and family status.

Objective: This study investigated the changes in women's quality of life (QoL) during the first, third, and sixth months of the postpartum period and their associated factors.

Methods: A single-group repeated-measure design was used to collect data from 282 postpartum women recruited from a regional hospital in Taiwan. We used the brief World Health Organization Quality of Life scale, Social Support Scale, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to assess postpartum women's quality of life, social support, and postpartum depressive symptoms, respectively. The data were analyzed using trajectory analysis and generalized estimating equations.

Results: The trajectory analysis indicated that postpartum women could be categorized into low, medium, and high QoL groups. Although the medium and high QoL groups maintained stable QoL levels, the low QoL group experienced a linear decrease in QoL over time. Moreover, the determinants of postpartum women's QoL were immigrant status, employment status, family type, social support, and postpartum depression.

Conclusions: Health care providers should assess these determinants of postpartum QoL in perinatal women to identify those at risk of low postpartum quality of life. Early assessment and intervention by health care providers could significantly improve the health status of women after childbirth.

Keywords: depression; postpartum; postpartum women; quality of life; social support; trajectory analysis.