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Health-related quality of life of mothers of very low birth weight children at the age of five: results from the newborn lung project statewide cohort study

Abstract

Purpose  

This study aimed to determine the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in mothers of 5-year-old very low birth weight (VLBW)
and normal birth weight (NBW) children, with a focus on the role of stress.

Methods  

This cohort study is ancillary to the Newborn Lung Project. A telephone interview collected information on symptoms of stress
and HRQoL from 297 mothers of VLBW children and 290 mothers of NBW children who were enrolled in the Newborn Lung Project
Statewide Cohort Study. Staged multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between caregiver status
and maternal HRQoL and the role stress played in this relationship. Additional multiple regression analyses were also used
to evaluate the correlates of poor maternal HRQoL among VLBW mothers.

Results  

Mothers of VLBW children experienced worse physical and mental HRQoL than mothers of NBW children. Adjusted analyses showed
that physical HRQoL was significantly different between these mothers (β: −1.87, P = 0.001); this relationship was attenuated by maternal stress. Among the mothers of VLBW children, stress significantly contributed
to adverse HRQoL outcomes when children were aged five. Child behavior problems at the age of two were also associated with
worse subsequent maternal mental HRQoL (β: −0.18, P = 0.004), while each week of neonatal intensive care unit stay was associated with worse physical HRQoL (β: −0.26, P = 0.02).

Conclusions  

Caring for a VLBW child is negatively associated with the HRQoL of mothers; this relationship might be, in part, explained
by maternal stress. Addressing maternal stress may be an important way to improve long-term HRQoL.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Pages 1-12
  • DOI 10.1007/s11136-011-0069-3
  • Authors
    • Whitney P. Witt, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, Office 503, Madison, WI 53726, USA
    • Kristin Litzelman, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, Office 554, Madison, WI 53726, USA
    • Hilary A. Spear, College of Nursing, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
    • Lauren E. Wisk, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, Office 558, Madison, WI 53726, USA
    • Nataliya Levin, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, Madison, WI 53726, USA
    • Beth M. McManus, Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy and the Children’s Outcomes Research Group, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
    • Mari Palta, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, Office 689, Madison, WI 53726, USA