Exploring factors behind pregnant women’s quality of life in Iran: a qualitative study
Background and objective: Pregnancy-related physiologic and psychosocial alterations can impact on the body and cause symptoms which may affect quality of life. Since qualitative studies can provide more in-depth understanding of quality of life and its determining factors, this study was conducte...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Electronic Physician
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Electronic Physician |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5843426/ |
| Summary: | Background and objective: Pregnancy-related physiologic and psychosocial alterations can impact on the body
and cause symptoms which may affect quality of life. Since qualitative studies can provide more in-depth
understanding of quality of life and its determining factors, this study was conducted with the aim of exploring
factors affecting pregnant women’s quality of life.
Methods: A qualitative descriptive study with conventional content analysis approach was made using the
conventional content analysis approach on a purposeful sample of sixteen pregnant Iranian women in Hamadan,
Iran from May 2015 to December 2015. Sampling was continued until data saturation. Data were collected
through in-depth semi-structured personal interviews, and were analyzed using the conventional content analysis
approach.
Results: Data analysis resulted in three main categories, namely, the effects of pregnancy on different aspects of
health (including psychological disorders, impaired interactions, disturbances in doing daily activities, disturbed
body image, alterations in sexual relationships, physical disorders, and alterations in dietary habits and treatment
regimens), pregnancy-related concerns (regarding the gender of the fetus, financial problems, childbirth, health,
and the future), and coping with pregnancy (through strategies such as spirituality, positive attitude toward
pregnancy, distraction and imagination, and support).
Conclusions: This study showed that different factors can affect pregnant women’s quality of life. Nonetheless,
prenatal care services are mainly focused on pregnancy-related physical problems, and other aspects of care are
usually taken for granted. Consequently, healthcare professionals need to pay greater attention to pregnant
women’s quality of life and its contributing factors |
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| ISSN: | 2008-5842 2008-5842 |