title: Health services utilization of women following a traumatic birth.
abstract: This cohort study compared 262 women with high childbirth distress to 138 non-distressed women. At 12 months, high distress women had lower health-related quality of life compared to non-distressed women (EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) scale 0.90 vs. 0.93, p = 0.008), more visits to general practitioners (3.5 vs. 2.6, p = 0.002) and utilized more additional services (e.g. maternal health clinics), with no differences for infants. Childbirth distress has lasting adverse health effects for mothers and increases health-care utilization.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Applied Health Economics, School of Medicine, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. e.turkstra@griffith.edu.au.|Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. e.turkstra@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Turkstra
authors.affiliation: Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. d.creedy@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Creedy
authors.affiliation: Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University and Gold Coast Hospital, Queensland, Australia. j.fenwick@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fenwick
authors.affiliation: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. a.buist@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buist
authors.affiliation: Centre for Applied Health Economics, School of Medicine, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. p.scuffham@griffith.edu.au.|Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. p.scuffham@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Scuffham
authors.affiliation: Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. j.gamble@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gamble
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D008605:Mental Health Services; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D036801:Parturition / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Childbirth trauma; Distress; Health-care utilization; Health-related quality of life; Mental health