The associations of pregnancy-related symptoms with health-related quality of life at midpregnancy: the PregnActive project

To analyze the associations between the wide range of pregnancy-related symptoms and health-related quality of life. A cross-sectional study was developed among 155 healthy low-risk pregnant women, aged 18–45 years, participated in the study at midpregnancy. Health-related quality of life and pregnancy symptoms were assessed using the Medical Outcome Study 36-item short form questionnaire and the Pregnancy Symptoms Inventory, respectively. Simple correlations, hierarchical linear regressions and standard multiple regressions were performed. Significant correlations, after adjusting for sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, were found between five pregnancy-related symptoms and physical component of health-related quality of life and between thirteen pregnancy-related symptoms and mental component. However, when all pregnancy symptoms were entered simultaneously into a multiple regression model, back pain and shortness of breath on the physical components, and feeling depressed and anxiety on the mental component were the main explanatory factors of health-related quality of life. Among the wide range of pregnancy-related symptoms, back pain, hip or pelvic pain, shortness of breath, and feeling depressed and anxiety are the main symptoms affecting the physical and the mental components of health-related quality of life, respectively. An early detection of the pregnancy-related symptoms that may affect health-related quality of life enables early interventions aimed at ameliorating their negative impact on health-related quality of life and daily living activities at midpregnancy.

本研究旨在探讨多种妊娠相关症状与健康相关生活质量（health-related quality of life, HRQoL）之间的关联。本研究为横断面研究，共纳入155名年龄18~45岁、处于妊娠中期的健康低危孕妇作为研究对象。分别采用医学结局研究36条目简明健康调查问卷（Medical Outcome Study 36-item short form questionnaire, SF-36）与妊娠症状量表（Pregnancy Symptoms Inventory, PSI）评估受试者的健康相关生活质量与妊娠相关症状。研究采用简单相关分析、分层线性回归与标准多元回归开展数据分析。在校正社会人口学特征与人体测量学特征后，本研究发现5种妊娠相关症状与健康相关生活质量的躯体健康组分存在显著关联，另有13种妊娠相关症状与心理健康组分存在显著关联。然而，当将所有妊娠相关症状同时纳入多元回归模型时，躯体健康组分的主要影响因素为背痛与呼吸急促，心理健康组分的主要影响因素为抑郁情绪与焦虑症状。在众多妊娠相关症状中，背痛、髋部或盆腔疼痛、呼吸急促、抑郁情绪与焦虑症状分别是影响躯体健康组分与心理健康组分的核心症状。早期识别可能损害健康相关生活质量的妊娠相关症状，可针对性开展早期干预，以减轻其对妊娠中期女性健康相关生活质量与日常活动能力的负面影响。