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. 2022 May 1;18(5):1319-1325.
doi: 10.5664/jcsm.9854.

Burden of sleep disturbance in non-Hispanic Black pregnant women

Kaylin M White  1 , Galit L Dunietz  2 , D'Angela S Pitts  3 , David A Kalmbach  4 , Maristella Lucchini  5 , Louise M O'Brien  2   6
Affiliations

Burden of sleep disturbance in non-Hispanic Black pregnant women

Kaylin M White et al. J Clin Sleep Med. .

Abstract

Study objectives: Non-Hispanic Black pregnant women disproportionately experience poor perinatal outcomes compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Sleep disruption has emerged as a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes, but there are limited data in minority pregnant women. We examined the prevalence of habitual snoring and its timing of onset with several key sleep-wake disturbances and their associations with perinatal outcomes in a cohort of non-Hispanic Black pregnant women.

Methods: Non-Hispanic Black pregnant women in their third trimester were recruited from a large academic medical center and screened for habitual snoring and its timing relative to pregnancy, along with sleep quality, symptoms of insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and daytime function. Clinical diagnoses of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were obtained along with delivery outcomes.

Results: In 235 women, the vast majority (80%) reported 3 or more sleep-wake disturbances, and almost half had at least 5 disturbances. Sixteen percent reported prepregnancy snoring and 20% reported pregnancy-onset snoring. Women with pregnancy-onset snoring had significantly increased odds of poor sleep quality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 8.2), trouble staying asleep (aOR = 3.6), waking up too early (aOR = 2.7), excessive daytime sleepiness (aOR = 2.3), and poor daytime function (aOR = 8.7) but no relationship with perinatal outcomes. In contrast, prepregnancy snoring was related to chronic hypertension, preterm delivery, and fetal growth restriction (aOR = 2.6, aOR = 2.8, and aOR = 5.1, respectively).

Conclusions: Sleep-wake disturbances confer a significant burden to pregnant non-Hispanic Black women, an infrequently studied yet disproportionately affected population. Contributions of maternal sleep to racial disparities in perinatal health should be a priority for public health research.

Citation: White KM, Dunietz GL, Pitts DS, Kalmbach DA, Lucchini M, O'Brien LM. Burden of sleep disturbance in non-Hispanic Black pregnant women. J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(5):1319-1325.

Keywords: health disparities; non-Hispanic Black women; pregnancy; sleep quality; sleep-disordered breathing.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript. Work for this study was performed at Michigan Medicine. This study was funded by the Gene and Tubie Gilmore Fund for Sleep Research, the University of Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research grant UL1RR024986 and seed pilot grant F021024, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL089918; Dr. O’Brien). Dr. Dunietz was supported by K01HL144914. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Burden of sleep-wake disturbances in non-Hispanic Black pregnant women.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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