Effects of anxiety, depression, social support, and physical health status on the health-related quality of life of pregnant women in post-pandemic Korea: a cross-sectional study

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the effects of anxiety, depression, social support, and physical health status on the health-related quality of life of Korean pregnant women using Spilker’s quality of life model. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with a correlational design. The participants included 166 pregnant women who were recruited via convenience sampling at two healthcare centers in South Korea. Questionnaires were collected from April 22 to May 29, 2023, in two cities in South Korea. The EuroQol-5D-3L, General Anxiety Disorder-7, Patient Health Questionnaire-2, Perceived Social Support through Others Scale-8, and EuroQol visual analog scale were used to assess the study variables. The t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression tests were conducted using IBM SPSS ver. 26.0. RESULTS: Statistically significant correlations were identified between the health-related quality of life of pregnant women and anxiety (r=.29, p<.001), depression (r=.31, p<.001), social support (r=–.34, p<.001), and physical health status (r=–.44, p<.001). Physical health status (β=–.31, p<.001) and social support (β=–.21, p=.003) had the greatest effect on health-related quality of life (F=15.50, p<.001), with an explanatory power of 26.0%. CONCLUSION: The health-related quality of life of pregnant women was affected by social support and physical health status. This study demonstrated that physical health and social support promotion can improve the health-related quality of life of pregnant women. Healthcare providers should consider integrating physical health into social support interventions for pregnant women in the post-pandemic era.