Sleep disturbances and affecting factors in young children with food allergy and their mothers

The experiences of mothers of children with food allergy: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Food allergies adversely affect the quality of life of the child and family, as they require lifelong treatment and follow-up. This study aims to examine the experiences of mothers who have children with food allergies within the framework of the biopsychosocial-spiritual model.

METHODS

This study, using a qualitative research design, was carried out with mothers of children followed up with food allergy in the pediatric allergy outpatient clinic of a university hospital between December 15, 2022 and January 05, 2023. Purposive sampling method was used in the study and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 mothers. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Inductive thematic analysis method was used. The study was written based on the COREQ checklist.

FINDINGS

Three themes, eight sub-themes, and 19 categories were identified: The effects of the disease on the physical health of the child and mother in the biological effects theme; psychosocial responses to disease, adaptation to treatment, future anxiety, coping strategies, and communication/interaction in the psychosocial effects theme; search for purpose-meaning in life and understanding belief/basic human values in the spiritual effects theme.

DISCUSSION

It has been concluded that food allergies affect maternal health extensively, especially in the psychosocial field, and that it affects family relationships, the time that mothers spare for themselves, and physical and spiritual health.

APPLICATION TO PRACTICE

The findings will be a guide for improving the quality of life of mothers followed up with food allergies and for the care and counseling support to be provided to mothers.

Efficacy of an extensively hydrolyzed formula with the addition of synbiotics in infants with cow's milk protein allergy: a real-world evidence study

Introduction

Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is the most frequent food allergy in early childhood. For those infants requiring breastmilk substitutes, formulas with extensively hydrolyzed proteins (EHF), should be the treatment of choice. As there are limited data showing the progression of initial symptoms in infants newly diagnosed with CMPA who are treated with EHF with added synbiotics, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the resolution of symptoms in said infants after 4 weeks of treatment. As a secondary objective this study aimed to assess the impact of the treatment on the family's quality of life.

Materials and Methods

observational, longitudinal, prospective, and multicentric real-world evidence study. The intervention phase (EHF with synbiotics) lasted 28 days and was completed by 65 patients. Treating physicians registered child´s anthropometry, Infant Gastrointestinal Symptoms Questionnaire (IGSQ-13) and CoMiSS (Cow´s Milk Allergy Symptoms Score) both at baseline and after 28 days of treatment. During treatment, caregivers reported child´s regurgitation and stools, PO-SCORAD (Patient Oriented Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis) and FAQL-PB (Family Quality of Life-Parental Burden). Data were collected using Google Forms and analyzed through the STATA program.

Results

95.4% of the patients showed an improvement or disappearance of the overall initial symptoms after 4 weeks of treatment. Gastrointestinal symptoms improved or disappeared in 92% of patients (p < 0.05) while dermatological symptoms improved or disappeared in 87.5% of patients (p < 0.05). The median CoMiSS at baseline was 9, with 21 patients exceeding the cut-off point of 12. After 4 weeks of treatment, the median dropped to 3, and no patient exceeded the 12-cut-off point (p = 0.000). At baseline, patients had a PO-SCORAD of 11.5 (interquartile range 1-23) that went to 1.0 (interquartile range 1-6) at day 28 (p = 0.000). The treatment diminished stool frequency (p < 0.05), improved stool consistency (p = 0.004) and decreased the frequency of regurgitation in infants with CMPA (p = 0.01). The percentage of patients who no longer had any episode of regurgitation increased from 11% to 31% on day 28 (p = 0.003). At baseline, 13% of patients cried more than 3 h per day, while at day 28 that percentage dropped to 3% (p = 0.03). An improvement in the infants' sleep pattern was also appreciated with the treatment. At study onset, 56% of the families reported feeling very overwhelmed, a percentage that dropped to 17% after 28 days of treatment (p < 0.05). The small percentage of families who did not feel overwhelmed at study onset (17%), grew to 43% on day 28 (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The use of an EHF with synbiotics for the management of infants diagnosed with or suspected to have CMPA suggested a good safety profile, an adequate infant growth, and improvement of overall, gastrointestinal, and dermatological symptoms. It also suggested a lower daily frequency of regurgitations and stools, and an improvement in stool consistency, sleeping pattern, and quality of life of the infant and his family.

Parental sleep when their child is sick: A phased principle-based concept analysis

Sleep is a common challenge for parents with sick children and can impact parents' health, wellbeing, and caregiving responsibilities. Despite the vast research around parental sleep when their child is sick, the concept is not clearly defined. A phased principle-based concept analysis that includes triangulation of methods and quality criteria assessment was used to explore how the concept is described, used, and measured in the current literature. The aim was to analyse and clarify the conceptual, operational, and theoretical basis of parental sleep when their child is sick to produce an evidence-based definition and to identify knowledge gaps. A systematic literature search including databases CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsychARTICLES, PsychINFO, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science, identified 546 articles. The final dataset comprised 74 articles published between 2005 and 2021 and was assessed using a criteria tool for principle-based concept analysis. Data were managed using NVivo, and thematic analysis was undertaken. A precise definition is not present in the literature. Various tools have been used to measure parents' sleep, as well as exploration via interviews, open-ended questions, and sleep diaries. The terminology used varied. Parental sleep when their child is sick is interrelated with other concepts (e.g., stress). A recommended definition is offered. A conceptual understanding of parental sleep when their child is sick will help to guide translational research and to conduct studies critical to clinical practice and research. Future research includes developing a measurement tool for parental sleep when their child is sick to be used in study design and future interventions.

Factors affecting sleep quality of mothers of children with chronic illnesses

PURPOSE

This present research, mothers of children with chronic illnesses were compared with mothers of children with no chronic illnesses with the aim of determining which factors affect their sleep quality.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The descriptive-type data obtained from this research were collected from 270 mothers of children with chronic illnesses and 197 mothers of healthy children between November 10 and December 10, 2021. All participants were asked to complete a survey. The data were assessed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 and the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, ANOVA (Analysis of Variance), and Logistic Regression Analysis.

RESULTS

The total mean The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score for mothers of chronically ill children was found to be 9.79 ± 3.68 while it was 6.68 ± 3.62 for mothers of heathy children with a statically significant difference (t = 9.075, p = 0.00). The fact that mothers wake up for the care/treatment of their children due to the onset of an illness was found to be associated with poor sleep quality (OR = 0.388 p = 0.017; OR = 0.178, p = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONS

In the present study, it was determined that mothers of children with chronic illnesses suffer from sleep problems and that the sleep quality of those mothers varies depending on the illness types of their children.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Pediatric nurses are requested to assess the sleep quality of mothers with suitable measurement tools to determine what types of problems affect sleep quality negatively when dealing with children with chronic illnesses in both clinical and non-clinical practices.

Functional links between thermoregulation and sleep in children with neurodevelopmental and chronic health conditions

The bi-directional relationship between sleep and wake is recognized as important for all children. It is particularly consequential for children who have neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) or health conditions which challenge their sleep and biological rhythms, and their ability to maintain rhythms of participation in everyday activities. There are many studies which report the diverse reasons for disruption to sleep in these populations. Predominantly, there is focus on respiratory, pharmaceutical, and behavioral approaches to management. There is, however, little exploration and explanation of the important effects of body thermoregulation on children's sleep-wake patterns, and associated behaviors. Circadian patterns of sleep-wake are dependent on patterns of body temperature change, large enough to induce sleep preparedness but remaining within a range to avoid sleep disturbances when active thermoregulatory responses against heat or cold are elicited (to maintain thermoneutrality). Additionally, the subjective notion of thermal comfort (which coincides with the objective concept of thermoneutrality) is of interest as part of general comfort and associated behavioral responses for sleep onset and maintenance. Children's thermoregulation and thermal comfort are affected by diverse biological functions, as well as their participation in everyday activities, within their everyday environments. Hence, the aforementioned populations are additionally vulnerable to disruption of their thermoregulatory system and their capacity for balance of sleep and wakefulness. The purpose of this paper is to present hitherto overlooked information, for consideration by researchers and clinicians toward determining assessment and intervention approaches to support children's thermoregulation functions and promote their subjective thermal comfort, for improved regulation of their sleep and wake functions.

Association of Allergic Symptoms in the First 2 Years of Life With Sleep Outcomes Among Chinese Toddlers

Background: Previous studies have linked allergic symptoms to sleep in children, but the associations might be different when considering different types of allergic symptoms or sleep outcomes. Moreover, the combined effects of multiple allergic symptoms remain unclear in early life. This study aimed to investigate the associations between multiple allergic symptoms and sleep outcomes in early life. Methods: We included 673 toddlers aged 2 years from a birth cohort in Guangzhou, China. We identified allergic symptoms (skin, eyes and nose, gastrointestinal tract, mouth and lips, and wheeze) within 2 years via standard questionnaires. Sleep outcomes including sleep duration and quality over the past month were assessed based on the Chinese version of the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. Associations between allergic symptoms and sleep outcomes were examined using multivariable linear regression and logistic regression. Results: Compared to children without allergic symptoms, children with allergic nasal and ocular symptoms had higher odds of frequent nighttime awakenings (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.93) and irregular sleep (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.00); children with allergic gastrointestinal symptoms slept 0.28 h less during nighttime (95% CI: -0.48, -0.07) and 0.25 h less per day (95% CI: -0.43, -0.08), and had 59% higher odds of irregular sleep (95% CI: 1.24, 2.04). We also found significant association of multiple allergic symptoms with shortened nighttime sleep duration and increased irregular sleep. Whereas, allergic skin, mouth and lips, and wheeze symptoms were not significantly associated with sleep outcomes. Conclusion: Allergic symptoms within 2 years of age were adversely associated with sleep outcomes, which highlight the importance of early screening of allergic symptoms in toddlers in order to improve their sleep outcomes.

Presence of Allergies and Their Impact on Sleep in Children Who Stutter

Purpose

Population-based research has identified insomnia or trouble sleeping, sleepiness during the day, and fatigue during the day as frequent coexisting conditions in children who stutter (CWS). Considering that allergies are well known to disturb sleep, the purpose of this study was to explore if there is an association between the presence of allergies and sleep issues among CWS, as well as if allergies are frequent in CWS.

Method

Data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey were used. Children used in this sample were those whose caregivers answered definitively whether or not the child stuttered within the past 12 months. Additionally, caregivers identified the presence of allergies and/or asthma and the presence of insomnia or trouble sleeping in the sample child.

Results

The sample included 200 CWS and 9,951 children who do not stutter (CWNS). The odds of insomnia/trouble sleeping were greater in CWS who present with allergies and/or asthma, with the exception of food allergy, compared to CWS who do not present with with allergies and/or asthma. Additionally, the odds of insomnia/trouble sleeping were greater in CWS without any allergy, asthma, and coexisting disability ( OR = 7.48, p < .001) as compared to CWNS without any allergy, asthma, and coexisting disability. The presence of either any allergy or an asthma attack was higher among CWS (46.4%) compared to CWNS (29.5%), p < .001. Specifically, CWS were found to be at greater odds of presenting with any kind of respiratory allergy ( OR = 1.72, p = .034), food allergy ( OR = 2.32, p = .002), and skin allergy ( OR = 1.84, p = .009) than CWNS.

Conclusions

CWS were found to be at greater odds of allergies and asthma, conditions that also impair sleep. Interestingly, insomnia/trouble sleeping was prevalent among CWS, even when allergies, asthma, and coexisting disabilities were not present. The possible implications of these findings are discussed.