Evaluation of antenatal quality of life of hospitalized women with the use of Mother-Generated Index – pilot study

Abstract

Abstract Objectives: The objectives of this study included: 1. evaluation of the Polish version of Mother Generated-Index (MGI) as a tool for measuring antenatal Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) of hospitalized women; 2. identification of factors influencing antenatal quality of life of hospitalized women; 3. assessment of correlations between MGI and SF-36v2, and between MGI and EQ-5D. Material and methods: MGI is a three-step questionnaire. Respondents were asked to name important areas of life that had been affected by their pregnancy (step 1) and then to assess, on the scale from 0 to 10, their positive or negative value (step 2). In Step 3, the women ranked the importance of the areas by allocating a total of 20 ‘spending points’ among them. The sub-index MGI1 is defined as the mean of the Step 2 scores, the sub-index MGI2 is defined as the weighted mean of Step 2 scores with weights given in Step 3. Using SF-36v2, EQ-5D, MGI questionnaires and socioeconomic survey we studied the HRQL of 99 pregnant women hospitalized in ICZMP in Łódź. Results: Sub-index MGI1 was included between 1.83 and 10 with mean 5.86 (SD 1.71). Sub-index MGI2 was between 0 and 10, with mean 6.70 (SD 2.34). Sub-indexes of MGI were significantly (p<0.05) positively correlated with EQ-5D and with sub-indexes of SF-36v2. The correlations are weak or moderate (between 0.2 and 0.4). The mean of the score given in the second part of MGI was 8.58 (SD 1.13) for positive comments, 2.63 (SD 1.22) for negative comments, and 5.02 (SD 1.55) for neutral comments. Differences between positive, negative and neutral comments were statistically significant (ANOVA, p=0.00). Among factors which influence antenatal quality of life, the respondents named relationship with partner and family, attitudes towards pregnancy, delivery and baby, work and personal finances. Conclusions: 1. MGI should be treated as an additional tool for HRQL measurement, since it reflects the differences between expectations towards pregnancy and reality. Multicultural factors can influence MGI. 2. MGI allows to identify factors which influence the antenatal quality of life, taking into account their importance. 3. There are statistically significant positive correlations between sub-indexes of MGI and sub-indexes of SF-36v2, and between sub-indexes of MGI and EQ-5D.