Assessment of quality of life indicators in the postpartum period

Background: Quality of life assessments are increasingly recognised in healthcare. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric characteristics of Nottingham Health Profile in the postpartum period. Methods: A random sample of 133 English speaking women completed the scale in hospital between 24 and 48 h of delivery and again at 7 days postpartum. Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate psychometric parameters of the questionnaire. Results: The questionnaire indicated that in the acute setting, physical ability, energy level and pain were most affected. At follow-up, women described greatest difficulties with energy level and pain domains. The scores for physical ability, pain, sleep and energy level improved compared to baseline (P < 0.05). Women who had caesarean delivery had lower scores for physical ability, pain and energy level domains at 1-2 week follow-up compared to the vaginal delivery group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The scale was found to be suitable for evaluation of quality of life in a population of postpartum women. However a more culturally and geographically diverse population is needed to test reliability and validity of the instrument. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.