Abstract
BACKGROUND: Health-related quality of life is an important measure of patient-reported outcomes. There is limited evidence on how parental health-related quality of life develops after neonatal hospitalization. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate parents' health-related quality of life (HRQL) during the year following their infant's treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: This prospective cohort study, conducted at a German university hospital between 2020 - 2023, examined HRQL among parents of infants hospitalized in the NICU for ≥ 14 days and parents of infants discharged from the maternity ward according to PedsQL™ Family Impact Module. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify associations between cohort affiliation and differences in parental HRQL. Key secondary outcome was parenting sense of competence (PSOC). RESULTS: Participants included 131 parents of NICU infants and 122 unexposed parents. HRQL increased over time for NICU mothers (58.7 at 14 days, 70.8 at 6 months, 77.0 at 12 months after birth) and NICU fathers (69.8 at 14 days, 73.9 at 6 months, 75.7 at 12 months). NICU treatment was significantly associated with lower HRQL at 14 days (mothers: -20.26 points; P < .001; fathers: -9.40 points; P = .04), but not at 6 or 12 months after birth. At 12 months postpartum, NICU mothers showed higher PSOC compared to unexposed mothers (mean difference -4.85; P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Parents and especially mothers of NICU infants reported lower HRQL at 14 days postpartum. At 6 and 12 months, their HRQL improved, aligning with that of unexposed parents.