Psychosocial status and quality of life in mothers of infants with colic.

We aimed to measure the psychosocial status and quality of life in mothers of babies with infantile colic (IC). Mothers and their newborns were stratified into Group 1 (colicky infant-mother dyad [n: 39]) and Group 2 (non-colicky infant-mother dyad [n: 39]). Maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), respectively. The Short Form-36 (SF36) was used to measure quality of life. Mean BDI score in Group 1 (14.7 ± 12.9) was significantly higher than in Group 2 (7.7 ± 5.5) (p=0.020). Mothers in Group 1 had lower Short Form- 36 physical functioning (26.6 ± 4.3 vs. 28.7 ± 2.6; p=0.010) and social functioning (7.4 ± 2.5 vs. 8.9 ± 3.2, p=0.024) domain scores. Infantile colic (IC) was associated with higher maternal depression symptom scores and lower quality of life scores. As such, we think that mothers who have babies with IC should be closely monitored.