Health‐related quality of life among Ethiopian pregnant women during COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective To explore the quality of life and its association with perceived social support and pandemic fear among pregnant women. Methods Cross‐sectional study was conducted among 384 pregnant mothers at southwest Ethiopia from August 1, 2020, to August 15, 2020. Participants were included by consecutive sampling. Quality of life was assessed by short version of WHO quality of life. Social support and fear of COVID‐19 were evaluated by Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and fear of COVID‐19 scale (FCoV‐19S), respectively. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 23.0. Frequency and percentage for categorical variables, and mean ± SD for continuous variables were calculated. Independent sample t test and ANOVA were employed to compare the groups of normally distributed variables. Multiple regressions were performed, and Pearson correlation (r) was used to explore the relationships. Statistical significance was declared at p < .05, and 95% CI was calculated. Results The mean age of the participants was 31.3 ± 7.7, and 40.4% of them were between the ages of 25–34. The mean scores of participants those living with <5 family members and those living with ≥5 family members were significantly different [t(382) = 3.09, p = .002]. Participants with primary education have significantly high mean score of WHOQOL‐BREF from those participants with no formal education (p = .028, MD = −1.9). Moderate negative correlation was observed between the scores of WHOQOL‐BREF and FCoV‐19S. All the components of MSPSS had positively associated with WHOQOL‐BREF score at significant level. On final model, FCoV‐19S score has uniquely accounted for 19.4% of variance in WHOQOL‐BREF. Conclusions Perceived social support has positively linked to QOL among pregnant women during COVID‐19 pandemic. Pandemic‐related fear has negative association with QOL and may be considered independent contributor of decreased quality of life in this population.

Psychological Distress Among Ethiopian Pregnant Women During COVID-19: Negative Correlation with Self-Efficacy

“…More details about the demographic characteristics of the study participants were explained in our previous paper. 27 …”

“…The current study was part of a previously published project 27 and the details of the methodologies were elaborated there.…”

Compliance with COVID-19 Preventive Measures and Associated Factors Among Women Attending Antenatal Care at Public Health Facilities of Debre Berhan Town, Ethiopia

“…20,21 Although, studies revealed that strong social support during pregnancy has a positive impact to improving maternal quality of life (QOL) and preventing the adverse pregnancy outcomes, 22 COVID-19 related fear has a negatively effects QOL. 23 Due to COVID-19 preventive measures recommendation, the likelihood of developing anxiety and depressive symptoms are increased among pregnant women who are mainly due to poor social support even within family members. 24 Although the Ethiopian government is highly dedicated to controlling the outbreak after the first case of COVID-19 on March 13, 2020, 25 the incidence of the virus is continuously accelerating every day.…”

Effect of an education-support program on the quality of life, preventive behaviors, and fear of COVID-19 in pregnant women referred to health centers of zahedan, Iran, 2021

“…This questionnaire has been developed by Ahorsu et al (2020) and its validity and reliability in Iran have been investigated in several psychometric studies, where it has been confirmed by item-total correlation test and panel assessment. Other relevant characteristics of this questionnaire have also been verified by both classical test theory and Rasch model on a seven-item scale with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.82 (38). In this study, Cronbach's alpha of this questionnaire was also measured.…”