The Effect of a Supportive Health Promotion Program on the Quality of Life of Mothers of Premature Newborns

Studies have shown that mothers of premature newborns have lower physical and psychological quality of life compared to mothers of healthy neonates. Therefore, applying a health promotion program for supporting them is necessary. To determine the effectiveness of a health promotion program on the quality of the life of mothers of premature newborns. In this quasi- experimental study, mothers of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit of Milad hospital in 2014 were non-randomly divided into case (45 patients) and control groups (45 patients). Demographic information and Short Form Health Survey (SF36) quality of life questionnaire were collected. The supportive program of the case group was performed in four phases of assessment and recognition, support and the evaluation. Data were collected in three steps: pre-intervention, one and three months after intervention in both groups. Data analysis was conducted by SPSS version 14 using chi-square, independent t and ANOVA statistical tests. Demographic data were similar in both groups (P>0.05). The mean and SD of overall score of quality of life before the intervention was 46.3±9.5 and 48.9±9.5 in the control and case groups, respectively (p=0.1). One month after the intervention, this score was 47.5±6.3 in the control and 57.9±7.05 in the case group (p<0.001). The score of quality of life one and three months, after the intervention, in all aspects, were significantly different between two groups (p<0.05), excluding physical limitations aspect (p=0.4). Thehealth promotion programs are supportive on improving the quality of life of mothers of premature newborns. Therefore, it is recommended that these programs be considered as effective methods for promoting quality life of mothers of premature neonates.