Determinants of Poor Sleep Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Women Attending Antenatal Care Services at the Health Facilities of Debre Berhan Town, Ethiopia: An Institutional-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Sleep disturbance and its associated factors among pregnant women in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Globally, sleep disturbance is the foremost public health issue among pregnant women which might have undesirable birth outcome including neurocognitive impairment, preterm birth, low birth weight, and neonatal morbidity and mortality. In Ethiopia, inconsistent findings have been reported on the prevalence of sleep disturbance among pregnant women. Therefore, this review aims to estimate the pooled prevalence sleep disturbance and its associated factors among pregnant women in Ethiopia.

METHODS

This systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies was designed according to the PRISMA guideline. A systematic search of literature was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of science, and Google Scholar using relevant searching key terms. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to evaluate the quality of all selected articles. Data were analyzed using STATA Version 14 software. Publication bias was checked using Egger's test and funnel plot. Cochran's chi-squared test and I2 values were used to assess heterogeneity. A fixed-effects model was applied during meta-analysis.

RESULTS

In this review, six studies were included after reviewing 17,100 articles. The pooled prevalence of sleep disturbance among pregnant women in Ethiopia was 50.43% (95%CI: 39.34-61.52). Third trimester pregnancy AOR = 4.03; 95% CI: 2.84,5.71), multigravidity (AOR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.54, 2.59), unplanned pregnancy (AOR = 2.56; 95% CI: 1.52,4.31), depression (AOR = 3.57; 95% CI: 2.04, 6.27), stress (AOR = 2.77; 95% CI: 1.57, 4.88), anxiety (AOR = 3.69; 95% CI: 1.42, 9.59) and poor sleep hygiene (AOR = 2.49; 95% CI: 1.56, 3.99) and were statistically associated with sleep disturbance among pregnant women.

CONCLUSION

This review revealed that the magnitude of sleep disturbance among pregnant woman in Ethiopia was relatively high and multiple factors determined the likelihood of having a disturbed sleep-awake pattern. Thus, the implementation of interventions for sleep disturbance after screening pregnant women is needed. Moreover, public health interventions targeted on the prevention of unintended pregnancy and depression during pregnancy should be implemented.

The influence of social support on sleep and fatigue level among patients receiving hemodialysis in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional correlational design

Background

Patients on hemodialysis (HD) are more likely to experience sleep problems and fatigue that may affect their health outcomes. Management of these patients with social support may improve their sleep quality and fatigue as well as their health.

Aim

This study aimed to assess the influence of social support on sleep quality and fatigue levels among HD patients.

Methods

A cross-correlational study was conducted among 260 conveniently sampled HD patients from four dialysis centers in Hail and Al-Qassim cities of Saudi Arabia from Jun 2022 to January 2023. Besides sociodemographic data, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF) and the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3) were used to assess sleep quality, fatigue levels and social support, respectively. Chi-square test was used to determine the association between categorical variables, while Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to test the correlation between sleep quality, fatigue, and social support.

Results

Poor sleep and high fatigue were significantly higher in older patients compared to younger patients (p <0.001), while strong social support was significantly lower in older patients than younger and middle-aged ones (p = 0.001). On the other hand, poor sleep and high fatigue were significantly higher in males than females (p = 0.022 and p <0.001, respectively), while strong social support was significantly higher in females than males (p <0.001). Married patients showed significantly poorer sleep than single ones (p = 0.019), but single patients received significantly stronger social support. Retired patients showed significantly poorer sleep, higher fatigue and weaker social support than other groups (p <0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between fatigue and sleep quality among HD patients, where patients with more fatigue had poorer sleep (r = -0.510, p <0.001). A significant positive correlation was found between social support and sleep quality, where patients with stronger social support had more normal sleep (r = 0.415, p <0.001). However, a significant negative correlation was found between social support and fatigue, where patients with stronger social support had lower levels of fatigue (r = -0.479, p <0.001).

Conclusion

Saudi patients on HD who have stronger social support have better sleep quality and reduced fatigue levels than those with less social support. There is a need to design and implement intervention studies with structured social support programs, and to evaluate their effectiveness on improving sleep and reducing fatigue among HD patients.

Embryo transfers performed during daylight savings time led to reduced live birth rates in older patients

PURPOSE

To study the impact of undergoing an embryo transfer during the week of daylight savings time transition on live birth rates.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective observational cohort study of patients undergoing embryo transfer at an academic infertility practice during the week of spring or fall daylight savings time transition (cases), or the 2 weeks preceding and following the daylight savings transition (controls) between 2015 and 2021. The primary exposure was completion of an embryo transfer during the week of daylight savings time transition. The primary outcome was a comparison of live birth rate per embryo transfer among individuals undergoing an embryo transfer during the week of daylight savings time (DST) transition and those who did not.

RESULTS

A total of 309 embryo transfers occurred during the week of daylight savings transition and 1242 embryo transfers occurred in the control group outside of the daylight savings transition week. The live birth rate after embryo transfer during DST transition weeks was 39.2% (121/309) compared to 40.8% (507/1242) (p = 0.59). When restricting the analysis to individuals (age > 37 years), the live birth rate after embryo transfer during DST transition week was 23.5% (24/102) compared to 34.8% (149/429) (p = 0.03). This difference persisted in the mixed-effects regression model demonstrating that after adjusting for relevant covariates, embryo transfer during DST transition weeks resulted in a 45% decrease in the odds of achieving a live birth.

CONCLUSION

Daylight savings time transition may be associated with less favorable outcomes after embryo transfer among an older infertile patient population. Future work is needed to prospectively examine the influence of circadian rhythm disruption on reproductive outcomes.

Poor sleep quality and suicidal ideation among pregnant women during COVID-19 in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

COVID-19 has profoundly impacted the mental health and well-being of pregnant women worldwide. In Ethiopia, the poor sleep quality and suicidal ideation among pregnant women has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to provide comprehensive evidence on the prevalence and associated factors of poor sleep quality and suicidal ideation among pregnant women during COVID-19 in Ethiopia.

Materials and Methods

This study is based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendation. Data were searched from PubMed, Google Scholar, and African Journals Online from the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic to February 2023. Two researchers extracted the data and performed the methodological quality assessment independently. Random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled effect size and I2was used to check heterogeneity. Stata 14.0 (StataCorp, Collage Station, Texas, USA) was used for statistical analysis.

Results

From six studies the pooled prevalence of poor sleep quality was 55% (95% CI [0.42-0.69], I2 = 98.1%, p < 0.001). Age ≥ 30 years pooled AOR = 1.95, 95% CI (0.85, 3.06), 3rd trimester pooled AOR = 3.20, 95% CI (1.82, 4.58), substance use pooled AOR = 2.51, 95% CI (0.99, 4.04), depression pooled AOR = 2.97, 95% CI (0.92, 5.02) and stress pooled AOR 2.14, 95% CI (0.24, 4.03) were associated factors of poor sleep quality. Three studies reported about suicidal ideation and pooled prevalence was 11% (95% CI: 0.09, 0.13, I2 = 48.2%, p = 0.145). Depression pooled AOR = 3.19, 95% CI (1.68, 4.71) was the only associated factor of suicidal ideation.

Conclusion

Due to COVID-19 pregnant women in Ethiopia were affected by poor sleep quality and suicidal ideation. Thus, suitable and well designed programs proposing awareness of COVID-19, mental health counseling and involvement should be designed to improve the general mental health of pregnant women.

Trial registration

PROSPERO registration number CRD42023389896.

Effects of dynamic zero COVID-19 policy on anxiety status and lifestyle changes of pregnant women in rural South China: a survey-based analysis by propensity score matching method

Introduction

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic triggered a global public health crisis and has brought an unprecedented impact on pregnant women. The problems faced by pregnant women in the rural areas of China during the epidemic are different from those in urban areas. Although the epidemic situation in China has gradually improved, studying the impact of the previous dynamic zero COVID-19 policy on the anxiety status and lifestyle of pregnant women in rural areas of China, is still necessary.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of pregnant women in rural South China was conducted from September 2021 to June 2022.Using questionnaires, sociodemographic characteristics, anxiety status, physical activity, sleep quality, and dietary status of the population were collected. Using the propensity score matching method, the effect of the dynamic zero COVID-19 strategy on the anxiety status and lifestyle of pregnant women was analyzed.

Results

Among the pregnant women in the policy group (n = 136) and the control group (n = 680), 25.7 and 22.4% had anxiety disorders, 83.1 and 84.7% had low or medium levels of physical activity, and 28.7 and 29.1% had sleep disorders, respectively. However, no significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed between the two groups. Compared with control group, the intake of fruit in the policy group increased significantly (p = 0.019), whereas that of aquatic products and eggs decreased significantly (p = 0.027). Both groups exhibited an unreasonable dietary structure and poor compliance with the Chinese dietary guidelines for pregnant women (p > 0.05). The proportion of pregnant women in the policy group, whose intake of stable food (p = 0.002), soybean, and nuts (p = 0.004) was less than the recommended amount, was significantly higher than that in the control group.

Discussion

The dynamic zero COVID-19 strategy had little impact on the anxiety status, physical activity, and sleep disorders of pregnant women in the rural areas of South China. However, it affected their intake of certain food groups. Improving corresponding food supply and organized nutritional support should be addressed as a strategic approach to improve the health of pregnant women in rural South China during the pandemic.

COVID-19 and Sleep Disturbances: A Literature Review of Clinical Evidence

The need for adequate good quality sleep to optimally function is well known. Over years, various physical, psychological, biological, and social factors have been investigated to understand their impact on sleep. However, understanding the etiological processes that are involved in causing sleep disturbances (SD) as impacted by stressful phases such as pandemics has not been well studied. Many such etiological and management strategies have surfaced during the latest "coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The occurrence of these SD in the infected and uninfected individuals poses a need to investigate factors linked to such occurrence during this phase. Some of such factors include stressful practices such as social distancing, masking, vaccines, and medications availability, changes in routines, and lifestyles. As the status of infection improved, a collective term for all the prolonged effects of COVID-19 after the resolution of the primary infection called the post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) surfaced. Apart from impacting sleep during the infectious phase, the aftereffects of this virus left an even greater impact during the PCS. Various mechanisms have been hypothesized to be linked to such SD during the PCS, but the available data are inconclusive. Further, the varied patterns of incidence of these SDs differed by many factors, such as age, gender, and geographical location, making clinical management even more challenging. This review elucidates the impact of coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (COVID) disease on sleep health during the various phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also investigate different causal relationships, management strategies, and knowledge gaps related to SD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poor sleep quality and associated factors among HIV-positive pregnant women in Northwest, Ethiopia: a facility-based, cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Poor sleep quality during pregnancy might have an impact on adverse birth outcomes like premature rupture of membrane, preterm birth, lifelong neurocognitive impairment, low birth weight, and increased the risk of neonatal morbidity and mortality. In Ethiopia, the magnitude of poor sleep quality among this group of people is extremely limited. So, this study aims to determine the magnitude of poor sleep quality and its associated factors among HIV-positive pregnant women attending public hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia.

METHODS

An institution-based cross-sectional study was done using a simple random sampling technique to recruit 411 HIV-positive pregnant women from January to March; 2021. Sleep quality over the last 1 month was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). General anxiety disorder (GAD-7), Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI), and List of Threatening of Experiences (LTE) instruments were used to identify factors associated with poor sleep quality. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression with odds ratio and 95% CI were employed to identify determinant factors of poor sleep quality. Statistical significance association was declared at P-value < 0.05.

RESULTS

A total of 411 out of 423 HIV-positive pregnant women were interviewed, with a response rate of 97.1%. The overall magnitude of poor sleep quality among HIV-positive pregnant was found to be 39.4% with a 95% of confidence interval (CI) (34.3, 44.3). Stressful life events, [AOR = 3.10, 95% CI (1.60, 6.01)], having comorbid general anxiety symptoms [AOR = 2.46, 95% CI (1.58, 3.81)], unplanned pregnancy [AOR = 2.18, 95% CI (1.20, 3.96)], and poor sleep hygiene practice [AOR = 2.23, 95% CI (1.21, 4.10)] were significantly associated with poor quality of sleep.

CONCLUSION

The overall magnitude of poor sleep quality among HIV-positive pregnant women was high. Stressful life events, poor sleep hygiene, unplanned pregnancy, and comorbid general anxiety symptoms were the determinant factors of poor sleep quality that should be taken high consideration for early detection and appropriate intervention for poor sleep quality in HIV-positive pregnant women.

Poor Sleep Quality and Factors Among Reproductive-Age Women in Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Adequate sleep is vital for physical and mental wellbeing. Sleep-related problems including poor quality of sleep have been increasing throughout the world among reproductive-aged women. Poor sleep quality has been related with number of diseases and health problems However, evidences are scarce regarding poor sleep quality and its associated factors among women of the reproductive age group in Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE

To assess sleep quality and associated factors among women of reproductive age group in Mizan Aman town, Southwest Ethiopia.

METHOD

Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 606 reproductive-aged women from 06 November to 20 December 2020, in Mizan Aman town. Data were collected using structured interview administered questionnaires. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality. Multivariable logistic regression was applied using an adjusted odds ratio with a corresponding 95% confidence interval to evaluate the statistical significance of associated factors.

RESULT

The overall prevalence of poor sleep quality was 71.3%. The late age group of 42-49 (AOR, 95% CI; 1.21 (1.08-5.76), palpable/visible thyroid gland (AOR, 95% CI; 2. 12 (1.08-3.82), current substance use (AOR, 95% CI; 1.76 (1.11-6.10) and having premenstrual syndrome (AOR, 95% CI; 1.86 (1.38-3.12) were significantly associated with poor sleep quality among reproductive age group women.

CONCLUSION

Significant majority of reproductive age group women faced poor sleep quality. Therefore, screening of sleep patterns among this particular age group is warranted. Moreover, education about sleep hygiene needs to be given considering the identified factors to improve sleep quality.