Purpose: Some diseases and health interventions have an effect on the quality of life (QOL) of two closely linked individuals. Hence, there is a need to develop methodologies that evaluate QOL at a higher order than the individual level. Using a “successful” childbirth as the disease of interest, which has increasingly centered upon issues of morbidity and QOL from the maternal as well as the neonatal standpoints, we analyze the QOL of the mother-newborn dyad.

Methods: A panel of health professionals assigned QOL scores for (1) conditions affecting the QOL of a mother in isolation, (2) conditions affecting the QOL of a newborn in isolation, and (3) conditions that affect both the mother and newborn collectively (the mother-newborn dyad). A multivariate regression equation is utilized to examine the influence of the mother's as well as the newborn's QOL. In addition, three models representing how QOL scores are potentially assigned for the mother-newborn dyad are developed and analyzed suggesting how QOL scores are assigned for conditions that affect both the mother and newborn simultaneously.

Results: On average, the QOL of a newborn is weighted 4.35 as much as their mother's QOL. A model in which QOL scores for the mother-newborn dyad is assigned by first evaluating the QOL of the mother and then by adjusting downward for the QOL of the newborn is the best fit model.

Conclusion: In the current analysis, the QOL of the mother-newborn dyad is investigated; demonstrating the need for methodology that analyzes QOL at higher orders. This is an area that merits further research and may have an impact on economic evaluations as well as effectiveness studies of diseases and health interventions that affect more than one individual.