0868 How Do Sleep Morbidities Differ Amongst Pregnant Women, Women Who Are Intending To Conceive, And Women Who Are Not Intending To Conceive?

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Maternal sleep disturbance is common during pregnancy and is associated with adverse maternal and child outcomes, such as postpartum depression and preterm birth. The extent to which sleep disorder symptoms are normative among women of reproductive age, however, is largely unknown. The present study’s primary aim was to explore cumulative sleep morbidity and the incidence of disorder-specific symptoms among reproductive-aged women of different childbearing statuses. Methods Sleep morbidity variables were examined cross-sectionally among three groups of reproductive-aged nulliparous women: those 1) currently pregnant (n=148), 2) currently intending to conceive (n=233), and 3) not currently intending to conceive (n=379). All subjects self-reported sleep disorder symptoms at baseline using the Sleep Disorders Symptom Checklist-25 (SDS-CL-25). This instrument measures symptoms related to 13 sleep disorders scaled 0 (never) to 4 (> 5 days per week). Average scores were calculated for each item, each of 13 sleep disorders, and for the whole instrument (0-100). Results Initial results indicated that pregnant women (M=22.80, SD=11.49) had a higher rate of cumulative sleep morbidity than women who were intending to conceive (M=20.33, SD=11.14) and women who were not intending to conceive (M=20.15, SD=12.03) (p=.05). Pregnant women also had increased rates of insomnia (M pregnant=8.38, SD=3.77; M intending=6.86, SD=3.60; M not intending=6.53, SD=3.47; p<.001) and restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movement disorder (M pregnant=2.77, SD=3.05; M intending=2.02, SD=2.28; M not intending=1.99, SD=2.43; p= .004) as compared to non-pregnant women. Conclusion These data suggest, as is widely held, that pregnant women have greater levels of sleep disturbance than women of a common reproductive age who are currently intending to conceive or who are not currently intending to conceive. The observed sleep disturbance appears to be limited to sleep initiation and maintenance and RLS/PLMs symptomatology. Additional analyses are ongoing. Support Perlis & Kloss: R21HD083628; Perlis K24AG055602