Open AccessSleep quality during pregnancy: associations with depressive and anxiety symptoms
Author(s) -
PoloKantola Päivi,
Aukia Linda,
Karlsson Hasse,
Karlsson Linnea,
Paavonen E. Juulia
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.1111/aogs.13056
Subject(s) - pregnancy , medicine , anxiety , insomnia , sleep (system call) , edinburgh postnatal depression scale , polysomnography , sleep onset latency , cohort , morning , psychiatry , sleep disorder , obstetrics , depressive symptoms , electroencephalography , genetics , computer science , biology , operating system
Abstract Introduction Sleep disturbances are common during pregnancy, yet underdiagnosed and under‐investigated. We evaluated sleep quality during pregnancy and assessed associated factors, especially depressive and anxiety symptoms. Material and methods A total of 78 healthy pregnant women from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study were studied twice prospectively during pregnancy (in mid‐pregnancy and late pregnancy). Sleep quality was evaluated by the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire, depressive symptoms by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and anxiety symptoms by the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results Poor general sleep quality, difficulty falling asleep, the number of nocturnal awakenings per night, and too‐early morning awakenings increased in late pregnancy compared with mid‐pregnancy (all p ‐values < 0.020). The total insomnia score ( p < 0.001) and sleep latency increased ( p = 0.005), but sleep duration and preferred sleep duration did not change. Women tended to snore more often in late pregnancy, but apneas remained rare. Almost one‐fourth of the women reported both morning and daytime sleepiness, but the frequencies did not increase during the follow up. In late pregnancy, depressive and anxiety symptoms were cross‐sectionally related to sleep disturbances, but depressive or anxiety symptoms in mid‐pregnancy were not associated with sleep disturbances in late pregnancy. Conclusions We found deterioration in sleep quality across pregnancy. However, no increase in negative daytime consequences was found, presumably indicating a compensatory capacity against sleep impairment. Additionally, depressive and anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbances were only cross‐sectionally associated. Our study calls for further research on the factors that influence sleep disturbances during pregnancy.