Women's perceptions of their husband's drinking behavior as a risk factor of their health-related quality of life in the postpartum period.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to investigate the association between women's perceptions of their husband's drinking behavior and their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the postpartum period.


METHODS
We used multistage stratified systematic sampling to recruit 24,200 pairs, postpartum women and newborns, from the Taiwan national birth register in 2005. A structured questionnaire to assess lifestyle risk behaviors and HRQOL was successfully administered to 87.8% of the sampled population. Subjects undertook a home interview 6 months after their deliveries between June 2005 and July 2006. The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form (SF-36) was used to measure the HRQOL of the wives, and the scores were used to look for associations with their perceptions of husband's alcohol-drinking behavior.


RESULTS
After controlling for the potential confounders, wives' scores on all SF-36 scales except the PF scale were inversely associated with the frequency of their husbands' alcohol drinking. Moreover, the MCS measure was also inversely associated with in the frequency of their husbands' alcohol drinking but the PCS did not show any association.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study adds evidence supporting the negative association between of husbands' alcohol drinking and their wives' health as measured by the SF-36 HRQOL, especially for mental health.
Chang
Pei-Jen
PJ
Department of Nursing, National Taipei College of Nursing, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Wu
Li-Yao
LY
Chen
Yi Chun
YC
Chuang
Chao-Hua
CH
Hsieh
Wu-Shiun
WS
Lin
Shio-Jean
SJ
Chen
Pau-Chung
PC
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult