Abstract
Objective The study is aimed at determining the efficacy of spiritual content counselling on improving the sleep quality and insomnia severity of pregnant women. Methods This randomized controlled trial was carried out on 40 pregnant women recruited at five health centres of Abhar, Iran, 2020. The eligible women were allocated into two intervention and control groups according to the randomized blocking method. Group counselling with spiritual content was carried out in eight sessions at 16 to 20 weeks of gestation. The control group only received routine care. Data were collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaires in three stages, before the intervention, at 28, and 36 weeks of gestation. Statistical analysis was performed using repeated measure ANOVA test, chi-square, and independent t-tests. P < 0.05 was considered significant statistical level. Results In the counselling group, the mean (SD) of a total score of sleep quality before the intervention was 9.45 (2.30) which decreased to 5.40 (1.56) in 36 weeks of gestational age, while in the control group was increased from 9.26 (2.15) to 11.47 (1.54). After the intervention based on the repeated measure ANOVA test, the mean total score of the insomnia severity, sleep quality, and its components decreased statistically in the second and third trimesters compared to the first trimester in the intervention group compared to the control group (P = 0.001). Conclusion The results showed that counselling with spiritual content could effectively ameliorate sleep quality and reduce insomnia severity in pregnant women. It seems that the approach is an acceptable basis to design intervention programs in this field that can be considered by midwives. Clinical Trial Registry and Registration Number. The study was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials under the IRCT20150731023423N15.
Highlights
One of the most common complaints during pregnancy is to have sleep disorders, such as insomnia, frequently waking up at night, high drowsiness during the day, mood swings, and unusual feelings during sleep [1]
Afrasiabian et al show that the use of lemon verbena, an hour before bedtime for 4 weeks, could be improved significantly by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) compared with the control group [8]
No available studies were showing the effect of spiritual content counselling on sleep quality during pregnancy, the positive effects of spiritual counselling on improving sleep quality have been reported in the nonpregnant research community
Summary
One of the most common complaints during pregnancy is to have sleep disorders, such as insomnia, frequently waking up at night, high drowsiness during the day, mood swings, and unusual feelings during sleep [1]. More than 80% of pregnant women had sleep disorders [2]. The sleep quality varies in the different trimesters of pregnancy. Some studies have been conducted to improve sleep quality in pregnant women using a variety of pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods, each of which had different efficacy. The review of fourteen RCTs with 910 participants in Yan-Hua Lin’s study shows that traditional Chinese medicines have significant effects on improving the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [7]. Afrasiabian et al show that the use of lemon verbena, an hour before bedtime for 4 weeks, could be improved significantly by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) compared with the control group [8]
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