ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2023
Do mothers or females without children have better health-related quality of life across their reproductive years?
Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- [Does becoming a mother make you ill?-Frequency of mental health diagnoses in postpartum mothers compared to childless women based on BARMER billing data].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTo compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between mothers and females who were voluntarily or involuntarily childless, across their reproductive years.
methods4100 females born in 1973-78 from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were followed for 22 years. Motherhood status was defined by females' reports in Survey 8 (2018, 40-45 years) on their fertility, attempts to conceive, use of in vitro fertilization and fertility hormones, and number of children. HRQoL was assessed in each survey using the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36). Linear mixed models were used to assess the associations between motherhood status and HRQoL.
resultsOver 22 years, compared with females who were voluntarily childless, mothers on average had better HRQoL (shown by scores 1.5 to 3.4 points higher on five of the eight SF-36 subscales), while females who were involuntarily childless scored 2.2 to 3.0 points lower on three of eight SF-36 subscales. Compared with females who were voluntarily childless, teen mothers (age at first birth < 20 years) scored lower on role limitations due to physical problems subscale (b = -5.5, 95% CI: -9.3, -1.6), while females with either two, or three or more children scored 1.6 to 4.8 points higher on seven of eight SF-36 subscales.
conclusionsFemales who were childless had poorer HRQoL than mothers. Further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms, which could inform policymakers on how to reduce the health disparities and improve long-term health outcomes for females.
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