The impact of nausea and vomiting on health related quality of life during pregnancy: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Nausea and vomiting (NV) is the most common health condition experienced by up to 80% of pregnant women. Although nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) is a natural condition and self-limiting, it has many negative impacts on the women's overall health particularly quality of life (QoL). However, there is no summarized evidence that provides comprehensive information about the impact of NVP on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to summarize the available empirical evidence on the impact of NV on QoL during pregnancy. METHODS: Five electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, MIDIRS, PsycINFO, Web of Science) were searched using keywords and index terms identified in the first step. All databases were searched for studies published in English from January 2010 to February 2025. Studies were included if they assessed the impact of NVP on QoL among pregnant women. The National Institute of Health (NIH) quality assessment tool was used for risk of bias and quality assessment. The overall quality of the evidence was rated based on the GRADE approach. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Following screening against the inclusion and exclusion criteria nine full-text studies were included for final analysis. In most studies pregnant women with NVP had significantly lower quality of life scores in most domains of the QoL components including, MCS and PCS of SF-36 and SF-12 and the NVPQoL compared with women without NVP. The increasing severity of NV was significantly correlated with poor QoL among pregnant women particularly in their first trimester as reported in most of the studies. CONCLUSIONS: NVP significantly affects QoL in pregnant women. Routine evaluation and management of NVP needs to be part of antenatal care for better QoL during pregnancy.