Quality of Life of Parents of Very Low Birth Weight Babies Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

This prospective cohort study was conducted at our tertiary care center from October, 2021 to April, 2022 to compare the parents' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores during neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay and at 3 months follow-up. Pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL) family impact module questionnaires were used in 46 mothers and 39 fathers during NICU stay, and 42 mothers and 38 fathers at 3-month follow-up. Greater proportions of mothers were severely affected and had higher stress levels as compared to fathers both during NICU stay (67.3% vs 48.7%) and at 3 months follow-up (62.7% vs 52.6%). Among the mothers, there was a significant improvement in individual and family functioning median (IQR) HRQL scores at 3-month follow-up [62 (48-83) vs 71(63-79)]. However, the proportion of mothers severely affected remained the same at NICU stay and 3-month follow-up (67.3% vs 62.7%).