Evaluation of sleep problems in preeclamptic, healthy pregnants and non-pregnant women in Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract

Sleep problems are common complaints among pregnant women. This study was designed to compare sleep problems in healthy pregnant, non-pregnant and preeclamptic women. We hypothesized that some sleep problems are more prevalent in females with preeclampsia. In this cross-sectional study, 102 women with preeclampsia, 106 healthy pregnant women in the third trimester and 103 healthy non-pregnant women were recruited. Age and parity were matched in three groups. We used Global sleep assessment questionnaire (GSAQ) to check subjective sleep problems. Data were analyzed by Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney U and Pearson Chi-sqaure tests using SPSS 16.0 software. Some types of sleep problems were more common in preeclamptic rather than the other two groups. For example, Initial insomnia occurred in 21.4% of the non-pregnant, 12.3% of the healthy pregnant and 26.5% of the preeclamptic subjects ( P = 0.034). Additionally, we found significant differences in fragmented sleep ( P = 0.022), snoring ( P < 0.001), non-idiopathic insomnia ( P = 0.045) and sadness and anxiety ( P = 0.001) between three groups. Some sleep problems are more common in preeclampctic subjects in comarison to the others such as initial insomnia, fragmented sleep, snoring, sleep apnea and non-idiopathic insomnia. Females with preeclampsia reported more problems in falling asleep, staying asleep, snoring and non idiopathic insomnia than healthy non-pregnant and healthy pregnant subjects. These results showed that different kinds of sleep problems can occur in subjects with preeclampsia in comparison to the non-pregnant and healthy pregnant women. Sleep problems should be evaluated during pregnancy particularly in pregnant women with preeclampsia. This work was supported by a grant from Department of Research, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (research No. 67145/86/1915).