Quality of life in Norwegian pregnant women and men with pregnant partners, and association with perception of sleep and depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Pregnant women and men with pregnant partners experience variations in quality of life (QoL) during pregnancy, a period characterized by physical, psychological, and social changes. Pregnancy is associated with reduced QoL, depressive symptoms, and sleep problems. This study aimed to: (1) determine whether Norwegian pregnant women and men with pregnant partners differed in QoL levels in the third trimester of pregnancy; (2) determine whether the relationship between perception of sleep and QoL is moderated by depressive symptoms, when analyzed separately in pregnant women and men with pregnant partners; and (3) determine whether selected possible predictive factors were associated with QoL when stratified by level of depressive symptoms, in pregnant women and men with pregnant partners separately. Methods A cross-sectional study conducted between October 2018 and January 2020 included 228 pregnant women and 197 men with pregnant partners in the third trimester of pregnancy. The age range was 22–50 years. QoL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire brief version, depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and perception of sleep by a single item. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 28 using descriptive statistics, the PROCESS macro for moderation analyses, and multivariate linear regression. The level of statistical significance was p < 0.05. Results Pregnant women reported significantly lower QoL scores on the physical health and psychological domains than the men with pregnant partners. Our data did not reveal any moderating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between the perception of sleep and QoL. Depressive symptoms in the pregnant women were found to be a significant predictor of lower QoL in all domains. In the men with pregnant partners, getting enough sleep was a significant predictor of higher QoL in all domains. In the pregnant women without depressive symptoms, higher QoL in the physical health domain was significantly associated with the perception of getting enough sleep. Conclusion Women in the final trimester of pregnancy experience poor QoL compared to the men with pregnant partners. Pregnant women with depressive symptoms have lower QoL compared to those without depressive symptoms. The perception of getting enough sleep was associated with better QoL.

Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and quality of life in Southern Brazil: a cross-sectional study, 2022

“…Similarly, a study conducted in Norway, between October 2018 and December 2019, involving pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy, showed that the highest quality of life score was observed in the psychological and environmental domains. 4 However, a study carried out with women in the third trimester of pregnancy, receiving care in PHC in Rio Branco, the capital city of the state of Acre, from March to May 2011, showed a lower average for the environmental domain (60.8 ± 9.4). The highest averages were found in the physical (75 ± 11.6), psychological (73.3 ± 10.6) and social relationship (74 ± 12.4) domains.…”

“…The theoretical basis was based on bibliographic studies in the scientific literature to evaluate the relationship between violence and quality of life with covariates ( Figure 1 ). 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 10 - 12 The minimum adjustment sets provided by the DAGitty program included the following variables: age, race/skin color, marital status, schooling, monthly income, parity, and pregnancy planning. 13…”

“…However, there are gaps in addressing the specific quality of life aspects for women experiencing IPVP in Brazil. 4 , 5 …”

First-Time Parents’ Support Needs and Perceived Support From a Child Health Service With the Integrated New Families Home Visiting Programme

“…The intervention group consisted of first-time mothers and their partners from three different city districts participating in the regular CHS programme and the NF home visiting programme. Despite efforts to recruit a diversity of participants to the larger research project, most participants were partnered, had a high educational level and were ethnic Norwegians ( Brekke et al, 2023 ). Inclusion criteria in the present study were couples in the intervention group who had answered the final questionnaire in the research project 12 months postnatally – between March and June 2020 – and who had consented to be contacted for further research.…”