eprintid: 25550 rev_number: 14 eprint_status: archive userid: 1589 dir: disk0/00/02/55/50 datestamp: 2018-11-22 15:18:11 lastmod: 2024-03-11 06:37:56 status_changed: 2018-11-22 15:18:11 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Kohler, Stefan creators_name: Annerstedt, Kristi Sidney creators_name: Diwan, Vishal creators_name: Lindholm, Lars creators_name: Randive, Bharat creators_name: Vora, Kranti creators_name: De Costa, Ayesha title: Postpartum quality of life in Indian women after vaginal birth and cesarean section: a pilot study using the EQ-5D-5L descriptive system subjects: ddc-610 divisions: i-912800 keywords: India, Quality of life, Postpartum period, Vaginal delivery, Episiotomy, Caesarean section, Pilot study abstract: Background: There has been little evaluation of the postpartum quality of life (QOL) of women in India and its association with the mode of birth. This study piloted the use of the generic EQ-5D-5L questionnaire to assess postpartum QOL experienced by rural Indian women. Methods: A convenience sample of rural women who gave birth in a health facility in Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh was recruited into this pilot study. QOL was measured during three interviews within 30 days of birth using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. Patient-level quality-adjusted life days (QALDs) were estimated. Multivariate regression was used to adjust for selected baseline characteristics. Results: Forty-six women with cesarean section and 178 with vaginal birth from 17 public and private health facilities were studied. Postpartum QOL in both groups improved between interviews 1 and 3. Comparing between vaginal and cesarean births indicated that the vaginal birth group had a higher QOL (0–3 days postpartum: 0.28 vs. 0.57, 3–7 days postpartum: 0.59 vs. 0.81; P < 0.001) and was more likely to report no or slight problems in 4 of 5 health dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain or discomfort; P ≤ 0.04) during interviews 1 and 2. Postpartum QOL converged, but still differed between groups by the time of interview 3 (21–30 days postpartum: 0.85 vs. 0.93; P < 0.001). While most women reported no problems by the end of the first postpartum month, the difference in the ability to perform usual activities persisted (P = 0.001). In result, fewer QALDs were attained by women in the cesarean section group between day 1 and day 21 postpartum (13.1 vs. 16.6 QALDs; P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that having had an episiotomy during vaginal birth was also associated with reduced QOL postpartum, but to a lesser extent than cesarean section. Similar results were obtained when adjusting for socioeconomic, pregnancy and birth characteristics, but postpartum QOL already ceased to be statistically different between groups before interview 3. Conclusions: Vaginal births, even with episiotomy, were associated with a higher postpartum QOL than cesarean births among the Indian women in our pilot study. Finding these expected results suggests that the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire is a suitable instrument to assess postpartum QOL in Indian women. date: 2018 publisher: BioMed Central id_scheme: DOI ppn_swb: 1658565827 own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-255505 language: eng bibsort: KOHLERSTEFPOSTPARTUM2018 full_text_status: public publication: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth volume: 18 number: 427 place_of_pub: London pagerange: 1-13 issn: 1471-2393 citation: Kohler, Stefan ; Annerstedt, Kristi Sidney ; Diwan, Vishal ; Lindholm, Lars ; Randive, Bharat ; Vora, Kranti ; De Costa, Ayesha (2018) Postpartum quality of life in Indian women after vaginal birth and cesarean section: a pilot study using the EQ-5D-5L descriptive system. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 18 (427). pp. 1-13. ISSN 1471-2393 document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/25550/1/12884_2018_Article_2038.pdf