Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb;45(1):80-86.
doi: 10.1177/0145721718812484. Epub 2018 Nov 22.

Sleep in Caregivers of Children With Type 1 Diabetes

Christine A Feeley  1 , Marilyn Clougherty  2 , Linda Siminerio  3 , Denise Charron-Prochownik  1 , Anna L Allende  1 , Eileen R Chasens  1
Affiliations

Sleep in Caregivers of Children With Type 1 Diabetes

Christine A Feeley et al. Diabetes Educ. 2019 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose:: The purpose of this study was to explore caregiver’s description of their experience of nighttime sleep.

Design and Methods:: Caregivers (N=22) of children 10–18 years of age with T1D were recruited for this descriptive study. Anonymous questionnaires contained demographic information and both open and close-ended questions that focused on caregiving as it related to sleep. Open-ended questions were reviewed to help understand the effect of nocturnal caregiving activities on parental sleep.

Results:: The sample of caregivers were all female, had a mean age 43 years; 96% graduated high school; 68% married or partnered, 100% Caucasian. Children had been diagnosed with T1D for a mean of 5 years, with a mean age of 12.2 years. Caregivers reported short sleep duration (mean 5.8 hours). Over half of participants reported they required ≥ 7 hours of sleep to feel their best, 64% reporting trouble sleeping at night, and 86% reported that caregiving interfered with their night time sleep, while 54% responded that sleep was “very important.” Content analysis of the open ended questions revealed two themes 1) Anxiety about child’s blood glucose levels, 2) Nighttime disruptions

Conclusions:: Caregivers are frequently sleep deprived and worry about their child’s nighttime glucose. Caregiving duties, anxiety, and sleep fragmentation may contribute to their poor sleep.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Marathe PH, Gao HX, Close KL. American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes 2017. J Diabetes 2017;9(4):320–324. - PubMed
    1. Sullivan-Bolyai S, Knafl K, Deatrick J, Grey M. Maternal management behaviors for young children with type 1 diabetes. MCN The American journal of maternal child nursing 2003;28(3):160–166. - PubMed
    1. Sullivan-Bolyai S, Bova C, Johnson K, et al. Engaging teens and parents in collaborative practice: perspectives on diabetes self-management. The Diabetes educator 2014;40(2):178–190. - PubMed
    1. Streisand R, Monaghan M. Young children with type 1 diabetes: challenges, research, and future directions. Current diabetes reports 2014;14(9):520. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Monaghan M, Hilliard ME, Cogen FR, Streisand R. Nighttime caregiving behaviors among parents of young children with Type 1 diabetes: Associations with illness characteristics and parent functioning. Families, Systems, & Health 2009;27(1):28–38. - PubMed

Publication types