Sociodemographic and obstetric factors associated with health-related quality of life of high-risk pregnant women

Objective: To evaluate the association between sociodemographic and obstetric factors and the health-related quality of life of pregnant women in high-risk prenatal care.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of women in high-risk prenatal care in Ceara, Brazil. The investigated outcomes were health-related quality of life, using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form health survey; the investigated covariates were sociodemographic and obstetric data. Associative analyses were performed using the Jamovi® software version 0.9.

Results: Of the 276 women included in the study, women with the following characteristics presented a better quality of life in some domain of the scale: age equal to or greater than 35 years, higher income per dependent, religious, living with three or fewer persons, with their own home, in primigestation, nulliparous, with no history of previous abortion, and with up to two living children. The regression model showed an association between the total scale score, which means a higher quality of life in women with age equal to or greater than 35 years and a higher income per dependent.

Conclusion: The study identified sociodemographic and obstetric factors that may affect the quality of life of high-risk pregnant women, providing subsidies to health providers so that they can promote better prenatal care.