Health related quality of life in Chinese pregnant women at advanced maternal age: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Objective

This study aims to explore the relationship between advanced maternal age (AMA) and health-related quality of life in Chinese pregnant women.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangzhou, China between September 2018 and June 2019. Four hundred and twenty-seven AMA women and the equal number of their younger counterparts completed the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).

Results

Compared with younger women, the AMA women were more likely to be employed; have a higher monthly household income and insurance covered; have a satisfied relationship with their husband and mother-in-law; and had a significantly lower level of physical (SF36-PCS) health-related quality of life and a higher level of mental (SF36-MCS) health-related quality of life during the pregnancy. The association of maternal age with health-related quality of life varies according with the trimester of pregnancy. Maternal age was a significant predictor of SF36-PCS and SF36-MCS. The third trimester was the significant predictor of SF36-PCS while the relationship with the mother-in-law was the significant predictor of SF36-MCS.

Conclusions

The SF36-PCS in the AMA women decreased with advancing age. However, their SF36-MCS was better over their younger counterparts. Age-related biological disadvantages may be offset by social/psychological advantages in AMA women.

KEYWORDS:

• Advanced maternal age (AMA)
• Chinese
• health-related quality of life
• pregnancy

Acknowledgments

We thank all the women who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

All authors have no conflict of interest.

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Jing-ping Yang, Dan-ni Wang and Ke Sun. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Jing-ping Yang and Ling-ling Gao. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript

Availability of data and material

The data set analysed during the current study is not publicly available because consent was not obtained from the study participants for this. Deidentified data may be made available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, subject to permission from the relevant ethics committees at the hospital and university.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Humanity and Social Science Foundation of the Chinese Ministry of Education under Grant [17YJAZH023].