0678 Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Sleep Duration and Sleep Disturbances among Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women in the United States

Abstract

Poor sleep among pregnant women is a growing public health concern that has been linked to adverse maternal and child health outcomes. Most studies examining sleep health during pregnancy have focused on non-Hispanic Whites and/or Hispanics/Latinas, while few have included Blacks, who are most susceptible to poor sleep and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Using a nationally representative sample of 71,644 (2,349 pregnant) women from the 2004-2017 National Health Interview Survey, we investigated cross-sectional associations between self-reported pregnancy status and various sleep dimensions. Sleep duration per day was defined as short: <7 hours; sufficient: 7-9 hours, and long: >9 hours. Adjusting for age, other sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors, and health conditions, we used average marginal predictions from fitted logistic regression models to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each sleep dimension among pregnant compared to non-pregnant women, stratified by race/ethnicity. We then stratified by pregnancy status, comparing sleep among Blacks and Hispanic/Latinas to Whites. Among 71,644 eligible pregnant (3%) and non-pregnant (97%) women, 69% were White, 19% Black, and 12% Hispanic/Latina. Mean age±SD was 28±0.14 (pregnant) and 34±0.07 (non-pregnant) years, and many (66% pregnant, 41% non-pregnant women) were married. When making overall and within-race/ethnicity comparisons, pregnant women were less likely than non-pregnant women to report short sleep (PROverall=0.74, 95%CI:0.67-0.81, PRWhite=0.72, 95%CI:0.64-0.81, PRBlack=0.74, 95%CI:0.61-0.89, PRHispanic/Latina=0.76, 95%CI:0.60-0.96). Only pregnant Whites (PRWhite=0.45, 95%CI:0.31-0.65) were less likely to report sleep medication use, while there was no difference between pregnant and non-pregnant Blacks (PRBlack=0.98, 95%CI:0.46-2.09) and Hispanics/Latinas (PRHispanic/Latina=0.83, 95%CI:0.38-1.78). Pregnant women had a 2-fold higher prevalence of long sleep (PROverall=2.06, 95%CI:1.74-2.43) and were 34% more likely to report trouble staying asleep (PROverall=1.34, 95%CI:1.25-1.43). Compared to pregnant Whites, pregnant Blacks had a 31% higher prevalence of reporting short sleep (PRBlack=1.31, 95%CI:1.05-1.63) and pregnant Hispanics/Latinas were less likely to report trouble staying asleep (PRHispanic/Latina=0.79, 95%CI:0.64-0.98). Sleep patterns differed between pregnant and non-pregnant women and by race/ethnicity. Expectant mothers may need additional screening for sleep difficulties during pregnancy, especially racial/ethnic minority women. Support (If Any)