Racial and Ethnic Differences in Maternal Self-Reported Sleep Quality in Pregnancy

Sleep disturbances are known to occur in pregnancy, with many pregnant individuals experiencing poor quality sleep that worsens from the second to third trimester. There is evidence for racial/ethnic disparities in sleep duration and quality. Our objective was to evaluate maternal sleep quality characteristics by self-reported race and ethnicity. A prospective cohort study of 744 pregnant individuals was conducted from 2013-2015 at 4 US sites. Participants were ≥18 yrs old with a singleton pregnancy, < 21 weeks pregnant, English speaking, and without fetal anomalies, progesterone treatment, or corticosteroid use during pregnancy. Participants completed the Sleep Quality Index (SQI) between 12w0d-20w6d gestation. Maternal sociodemographic characteristics and individual items on the SQI were compared by race and ethnicity. Among 744 eligible subjects, 58% were white, 17% Black, and 19% Hispanic. 26.7% had high school education or less and 16.2% had income < $15,000 (Table 1). Black individuals were more likely to not breathe comfortably (26.6%) and have pain (36.3%) during sleep compared to those of other race/ethnicities (Table 2). There was no significant difference in self-reported hours of sleep, minutes to fall asleep, and inability to get to sleep within 30 minutes (Table 2). Black individuals more often reported trouble staying awake while driving, eating, or social activity, took medicine to help sleep, had trouble keeping enthusiasm to get things done, and more often reported fairly bad or very bad overall self-rated sleep quality compared to those of other race/ethnicities, but these differences were not statistically significant (Table 2). Some sleep characteristics differ by race and ethnicity with non-Hispanic Black individuals having worse self-reported sleep quality compared to other race/ethnicities. Future research should work to understand the social drivers that underlie racial and ethnic differences in maternal sleep quality to optimize potential interventions.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)