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EP010 Investigating risk factors for development of subacute pain after childbirth: a prospective cohort study

rapm · 2025-09-10 · canonical JSON source

17 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Background and Aims Sub-acute pain after childbirth(SAPC) is defined as self-reported persistent pain at 6 weeks post-childbirth. With an incidence of 9.5%, it could adversely affect maternal quality of life and mental health. The EQ-5D-3L(EuroQol-five-dimension-scale) is a standardised instrument used to measure health-related quality of life. Lower EQ-5D-3L is often associated with poorer medical outcomes. Hence, we aimed to investigate whether lower EQ-5D-3L VAS score would be associated with an increased risk of developing SAPC. We also investigated other risk factors to develop an association model of SAPC development.Methods This is a prospective cohort study which included women with singleton pregnancy at ≥36weeks gestation at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore. Self-reporting types of validated questionnaires were administered at pre-delivery and at post-partum 6–10 weeks. Other potential risk factors such as obstetric factors, labour analgesia, and neonatal outcomes were also collected.Results Of 816 recruited women, 99(12.1%) developed SAPC. We found that lower general health score via lower EQ-5D-3L VAS score, was associated with increased risk of developing SAPC(Adjusted-OR(aOR)3.42, 95%CI 1.33to8.77). Other association factors include use of prostin induction as mode of delivery(aOR1.87, 95%CI 1.13to3.10), greater blood loss during delivery(aOR1.002, 95%CI 1.001to1.003), greater number of pain relief administered(aOR1.51, 95%CI1.20to1.90), use of artificial rupture of membranes and oxytocin for labour onset(aOR2.62, 95%CI 1.45to4.73), greater infant weight(aOR1.13, 95%CI 1.00to1.28) and experiencing 3rd degree tear during childbirth(aOR3.65 95%CI 1.12to11.95) were associated with an increased risk of developing SAPC. The area under the curve (AUC) of the multivariable model used was 0.732.Conclusions Lowered baseline general health score was associated with increased SAPC development. The multivariate model also revealed several obstetric factors which may suggest childbirth complications could be important association factors. This study would allow for risk stratification for women who should be monitored and treated for pain that extends beyond the acute pain during childbirth process.