Kontakt 2012, 14(3):286-297 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2012.032

Quality of life of women in pregnancy period: A study based on focus groupsNursing

Eva Vachková^1,*, Jiří Mareš²

¹ Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Lékařská fakulta v Hradci Králové, Ústav sociálního lékařství, oddělení ošetřovatelství

² Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Lékařská fakulta v Hradci Králové, Ústav sociálního lékařství

In the contribution, the authors deal with the assessment of the quality of life of women in the period of their physiological pregnancy. The work first summarizes still existing knowledge concerning the research of the quality of life in the period of pregnancy obtained in abroad and describes methodological approaches to the examination of the quality of life in pregnant women. The targets of the research study were as follows: 1. Mapping of experiencing changes resulting from pregnancy and effects of these changes on the quality of life; 2. Identification of variables considerably affecting the quality of life in this period from the viewpoint of the women; 3. Accumulation of data for a proposal of questionnaire items for a new specific questionnaire, which would be able to sensitively detect the quality of life in pregnant women. The research sample included n = 23 pregnant women (in second to third trimesters) aged on average 32 years, s = 2.64. The data were acquired with the help of a qualitative method of focus groups, and at a further stage of the research, the methodology was based on a work by Strauss and Corbin (1999), particularly with the use of so called grounded theory. The data acquired were analyzed by encoding (open, axial and selective). The main outcome of the qualitative research study is a causal theoretical model summarizing opinions of women concerning the way of affecting the quality of life by physiological pregnancy. The authors identified those variables (associated with the quality of life), which were most considerably perceived by women affected by pregnancy. The qualitative methods made possible deeper assessment of experiencing the pregnancy and quality of life. The data obtained were used for a compilation of a specific questionnaire, which could be useful in determining the quality of life in a larger group of pregnant women.

Keywords: pregnancy; quality of life; focus groups; methods; questionnaire; WHOQOL-BREF; grounded theory

Received: February 22, 2012; Accepted: May 9, 2012; Published: September 27, 2012  Show citation