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. 2020 Jul 18:2:100020.
doi: 10.1016/j.sleepx.2020.100020. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Sleep characteristics of the parents of children admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit: risk factors and repercussion on their daily life activities

Miriam García  1   2   3 , Gema Manrique  1   2   3 , Sarah N Fernández  1   2   3 , Yolanda Puerta  1 , Patricia Paredes  1 , Alba M Corchado  1 , Ana B García-Moreno  1 , Brian Jiménez  1 , Santiago Mencía  1   2   3
Affiliations

Sleep characteristics of the parents of children admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit: risk factors and repercussion on their daily life activities

Miriam García et al. Sleep Med X. .

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the sleep characteristics of the parents of children admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), the possible risk factors and impact of sleep quality on their daily life activities.

Methods: Parents of children admitted to PICU for at least 48 h filled in a survey. Demographic data, sleep characteristics before and during admission and its impact on daily life activities measured by the FOSQ-10 questionnaire, were collected.

Results: 100 surveys from parents of 53 children admitted to the PICU were collected. Most children (74%) were cardiac patients. 55% of them had had previous PICU admissions. 45% of parents lived in a different city. They spent a median of 14 h a day (IQR 12-16) at the hospital and 89.2% did not attend work. Parents had significantly worse subjective sleep quality (p = 0.001), less sleeping hours/day (p = 0.001), more difficulty falling asleep (p = 0.001) and more night arousals (p = 0.001) during PICU admission than before. 77% of parents also had a bad FOSQ-10 score. Perceived sleep quality and FOSQ-10 score had a good correlation (p = 0.00, Kappa 0.43). Significant risk factors were living in a different city (p = 0.03), programmed admissions (p = 0.001), previous PICU admissions (p = 0.001), prolonged PICU length of stay (p = 0.03) and longer distance from home (p = 0.03).

Conclusions: Three quarters of the parents of children admitted to PICU suffer from sleep disorders, which negatively affects their personal lives. Perceived sleep quality had a good correlation with FOSQ-10 score. Institutional support is needed to optimize parents' resting conditions during their child's hospitalization.

Keywords: Children; Critical illness; Parents; Pediatric intensive care unit; Sleep disorders.

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Conflict of interest statement

None. The ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest associated with this article can be viewed by clicking on the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleepx.2020.100020.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of sleep quality before and during PICU admission. Parents had a significantly worse quality of sleep during PICU admission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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