Perinatal predictors of sleep disturbances in young infants

Abstract

The study aimed to identify risk factors of sleep disturbances in 2-month-old infants. It comprised 198 infants (86 boys, 112 girls) who were singletons born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2007. The mothers were asked to complete questionnaires addressing major infant, maternal, and demographic characteristics. Preexisting medical records were scrutinized. The mothers were requested to describe infant sleep troubles. The baby was defined as having sleep disturbances, if he or she had five or more episodes per week characterized by settling difficulties at bedtime (could not fall asleep within 20 minutes after being put to bed) or frequent night awakenings (woke up more than twice during the night). Of 198 infants, 96 (48.5%) reportedly had sleep disturbances. In the univariate analysis, the factors associated with increased risk of sleep disturbances were (odds ratio, OR; (95% CI)) first birth order 3.55 (1.90–6.69), previous abortions 2.08 (1.14–3.83), maternal vaginal bleedings during pregnancy 2.58 (1.07–6.29), maternal allergies 2.44 (1.17–5.14), and maternal smoking during pregnancy 2.45 (1.27–4.77). Stepwise backward logistic regression analysis identified combinations of the factors that best predicted the risk of infant sleep disturbances: first birth order, previous abortions, and maternal smoking during pregnancy. After inclusion into the multiple logistic regression equation, these factors provided moderate prediction (pseudo R2=0.15). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed, and the area under the ROC curve was equal to 0.6636 (95% CI=0.5905–0.7406), p(area=0.5) <0.05. Findings from the maternal history may help to predict sleep disturbances in young infants.