Development of a PROM for anaemia symptoms during pregnancy.

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Development of a Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) for symptoms of anaemia during pregnancy.

• IRAS ID

  231164

• Contact name

  Lesley Smith

• Contact email

  lesleysmith@brookes.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Oxford Brookes University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  The World Health Organisation estimated in 2011 that globally, approximately 38.2% of pregnant women had anaemia. Pregnant and postnatal women are particularly susceptible to becoming anaemic due to increased placental/fetal demands for iron during pregnancy and blood loss during delivery. The adverse consequences of anaemia during pregnancy are varied, ranging from increased vulnerability to infections, heart or lung complications to reduced ability to compensate for blood loss during delivery, which can result in maternal death. Whilst the risks of anaemia to maternal and infant health are well studied, little is known about the effects that anaemia has upon a woman’s quality of life. Furthermore, the effect on quality of life of interventions for treating anaemia has currently only been explored in RCT studies using questionnaires and has not been explored in a qualitative study, so there is no data about women's experiences of such treatment.
  We will develop an instrument that measures all aspects of the impact of anaemia on quality of life, physical functioning and sense of wellbeing that are important to women during pregnancy. In order to develop this instrument, it is necessary to explore how women experience the symptoms of anaemia first and to uncover what aspects of their experience they feel are important to capture. To do this we aim to recruit women who have anaemia during pregnancy to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews to generate items for inclusion in the instrument. After conducting the interviews the qualitative findings will be analysed and presented in a Master's dissertation. In addition, this study will form part of a wider body of research focused on the treatment of anaemia during pregnancy and as such will provide information about the way in which women experience the symptoms of anaemia during pregnancy.

• REC name

  North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  18/NE/0028

• Date of REC Opinion

  10 Jan 2018

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion