An exploratory study to evaluate the utility of an adapted Mother Generated Index (MGI) in assessment of postpartum quality of life in India.
BACKGROUND
Given the postulated advantages of mother generated index (MGI) in incorporating the patients' viewpoint and in the absence of a validated India specific postpartum quality of life assessment tool we proposed to evaluate the utility of an adapted Mother-Generated-Index in assessing postpartum quality of life (PQOL) in India.


METHODS
The study was integrated into a community survey conducted in one district of Delhi by two-stage cluster randomized sampling to recruit women who delivered in the last 6 months. PQOL was assessed using MGI. Physical morbidity and Edinburgh- postnatal-depression-scale (EPDS) were also recorded for validation purposes.


RESULTS
All subjects (249 of 282 eligible) participating in the survey were approached for the MGI evaluation which could be administered to 195 subjects due to inadequate comprehension or refusal of consent. A trend towards lower scores in lower socioeconomic stratum was observed (Primary index score-2.9, 3.7 and 4.0 in lower, middle and higher strata; Secondary Index Score-2.6, 3.2 and 3.0 in lower, middle and higher strata). 59.4% mothers had scores suggestive of possible depression (EPDS; n = 172). Primary index score had a good correlation with validator scores like EPDS (p = 0.024) and number of physical problems (p = 0.022) while the secondary index score was only associated with EPDS score (p = 0.020).


CONCLUSIONS
The study documents that the MGI, with its inherent advantages, is a potentially useful tool for postpartum quality of life evaluation in India especially in the absence of an alternative pre-validated tool.
Nagpal
Jitender
J
Department of Clinical Epidemiology Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, B-16, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 016, India. jitendernagpal@gmail.com
Dhar
Rinku Sen Gupta
RS
Sinha
Swati
S
Bhargava
Vijaylakshmi
V
Sachdeva
Aarti
A
Bhartia
Abhishek
A
D000328:Adult; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D055815:Young Adult