Quality of Life Evaluation in Iranian Postpartum Women With and Without Striae Gravidarum

BACKGROUND Striae are a common change during pregnancy, leaving striae in various body parts after delivery, which most women find unpleasant. They create a big aesthetic concern for most women. Although striae do not endanger the mother and the fetus, they may cause a desire to scratch the region leading to small wounds, induce stress over beauty, decrease self-confidence, and create psychological disorders. They may try various treatments and often refer to dermatology clinics and receive long-term treatments; these time-consuming and costly behaviors and may affect their quality of life. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in Iranian postpartum women with and without striae gravidarum. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted on 145 women who had referred to health centers of Mashhad to receive post-delivery health care six weeks after delivery during year 2013. Multi-stage sampling was applied to select the participants. The tools used were demographic, SF-36 quality of life, Skindex29, Atwal and Fitzpatrick classification questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the SPSS V.11.5 software. RESULTS The subjects' mean age was 26.3 ± 5.7. Mann-Whitney test showed there was a significant difference between mean of Skindex29 and its dimensions (P < 0.001), general life quality (P < 0.001) in women with and without striae. Mann-Whitney test showed no significant difference between mean general quality of life dimension, except physical function in women with and without striae (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The results showed that striae lead to reduced quality of general life and reduced skin quality index in women postpartum.