Abstract
Objectives
Health-related quality of life (QoL) is an important component of overall wellbeing. The study aimed to describe the parent-perceived infant quality of life of exclusively breastfed infants along with their mother's physical and mental health in a Filipino cohort.
Methods
Healthy term infants, who were exclusively breastfed since birth and whose mothers had decided to exclusively breastfeed until 6 months (m) of age, were enrolled at 21–26 days of age from a single center in the Philippines. Parents completed the Infant Toddler Quality of Life Questionnaire (ITQoL) and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36v2) (assessing maternal QoL) at enrollment and when infants were 2.5 m, 4 m, and 6 m of age. Infants’ anthropometrics were measured and parents completed gastrointestinal (GI) diaries and Infant Gastrointestinal Symptoms Questionnaire (IGSQ) throughout the study.
Results
Among 75 enrolled infants, 70 completed the study at age 6 m. Infant QoL mean scores were high throughout the study (range 0–100 for each concept; Table 1). Nonetheless, noticeable improvements were observed between enrollment and 2.5 m, especially in the infant-focused concept of Temperament and Moods as well as in all three parent-focused concepts (Emotional, Time, and Family Cohesion) which measure impact of child's health on parents. Between 2.5 and 6 m, the scores remained relatively stable. For maternal QoL mean scores (scores standardized to Mean = 50, SD = 10 for each scale; Table 1), noticeable improvements were observed between enrollment and 2.5 m, with Physical Health showing more pronounced improvements. The Role-Emotional scale, which measures role limitations due to emotional problems, showed the lowest scores. From enrollment to age 6 m, mean z-scores for weight-for-age, length-for-age and head circumference-for-age stably tracked WHO Growth Standards. Additionally, infant stool consistency became more formed, and incidences of spitting up/vomiting and flatulence decreased. The overall GI burden also decreased (IGSQ index score: range 13–65; 15.8 ± 3.2 at enrollment and 14.0 ± 1.2 at 6 m).
Conclusions
In a cohort of exclusively breastfed Filipino mother-infant dyads, parent-perceived infant health-related quality of life was high and comparable to that reported in literature1. Maternal quality of life, particularly their perceived state of emotional well-being, warrants further investigation.
Funding Sources
Nestec Ltd.
Supporting Tables, Images and/or Graphs
Demographics as determinants for predicting quality of life among senior citizens in the Philippines
