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Original research
Maternal health-related quality of life at 1 year after a preterm birth: role of socioeconomic status at birth
  1. Valerie Benhammou1,
  2. Laetitia Marchand-Martin1,
  3. Véronique Pierrat1,2,
  4. Marie-Laure Charkaluk1,3,
  5. Patrizia Romito4,
  6. Monique Kaminski1,
  7. Pierre-Yves Ancel1,5,
  8. Marie-Josèphe Saurel-Cubizolles1
  1. 1 Université Paris Cité, CRESS, Obstetrical Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team, EPOPé, INSERM, Paris, France
  2. 2 Department of Neonatal Medicine, CHI Créteil, Créteil, France
  3. 3 Department of Neonatal Medicine, Lille Catholic Institute Hospital Group, Lomme, France
  4. 4 Department of Human Studies, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
  5. 5 Center for Clinical Investigation P1419, APHP - Centre Université Paris-Cité, Paris, France
  1. Correspondence to Dr Valerie Benhammou, INSERM, Université Paris Cité, CRESS, Obstetrical Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team, EPOPé, INSERM, INRAE, F-75006 Paris, Île-de-France, FR, INSERM, Paris, Île-de-France, France; valerie.benhammou{at}inserm.fr

Abstract

Background Maternal problems in the postpartum period may lead to suboptimal long-term health for women and could affect mother–child attachment. Social disadvantage is a risk factor for preterm birth, which carries its own burden of health issues and stress. The main aim of this study was to investigate the role for social factors in mothers’ physical and emotional health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at 1 year after a preterm birth.

Methods EPIPAGE-2 is a French nationwide, prospective, population-based cohort of preterm children born before 35 weeks’ gestation (N=3614 women). At birth, detailed data on the family’s social status were collected. At 1 year after birth, mothers completed a mailed questionnaire to report information on their HRQoL, assessed by the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item Short Form. We used multivariate linear regression models to assess the association between social factors and maternal HRQoL.

Results At 1 year after childbirth, the emotional HRQoL of mothers of preterm children was worse than their physical HRQoL, even in women without any previous signs of psychological distress at the infant’s discharge from hospital. Baseline social characteristics were the most important factors influencing the physical component of HRQoL. None of the studied social factors had any clear association with the mental component of HRQoL.

Conclusion Our study underlines the importance of social disadvantage during pregnancy as risk factors for poor physical HRQoL at 1 year after a preterm birth.

  • MATERNAL HEALTH
  • COHORT STUDIES
  • Health inequalities

Data availability statement

Data are available on reasonable request.

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2023-220591

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available on reasonable request.

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    Footnotes

    • VB VB, LM-M, VP, P-YA and M-JS-C had full access to all the data in the study and took responsability for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. VB and M-J S-C conceptualised the study and wrote the manuscript. VB performed the statistical analysis and is the guarantor of this study. P-YA obtained funding and supervised the study. All authors contributed to the analysis plan and interpretation of the results and reviewed and approved the revised version.

    • Funding The EPIPAGE-2 study has been funded with support from: (1) The French Institute of Public Health Research/Institute of Public Health and its partners: the French Health Ministry, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), the National Institute of Cancer, and the National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy (CNSA). (2) The National Research Agency through the French EQUIPEX program of investments in the future (reference ANR-11-EQPX-0038 and ANR-19-COHO-001). (3) Fondation de France (reference 11779). (4) Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (SPF20160936356).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.