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Purpose: To examine the association between snoring, sleep quality, quantity, and blood pressure in third-trimester normotensive pregnant women., Design: This study was a cross-sectional analysis of two cohorts of healthy pregnant women recruited from a prenatal clinic in a medical center in Northern Taiwan., Methods: A total of 322 women reported sociodemographic and health characteristics in a structured interview and wore a wrist actigraph on their nondominant wrist for 7 consecutive days to assess objective sleep patterns. The women's resting blood pressures were measured while seated in the clinic by trained personnel using an electronic sphygmomanometer., Findings: One hundred thirty-three (41.3%) women reported snoring. Ninety-three women (28.9%) had <6 hr of nighttime sleep, with only 95 (29.5%) women averaging 7 or more hours of nighttime sleep. In the univariate analyses, snoring was positively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as mean arterial pressure levels (p < .05). In the multivariate analyses, snoring remained as a significant predictor of higher diastolic blood pressure (β = 2.07, p < .05) and mean arterial pressure levels (β = 2.00, p < .05), after adjustment for age, parity, gestational age, body mass index before pregnancy, and sleep quantity and quality by actigraphy., Conclusions: Snoring is a highly prevalent condition experienced by healthy third-trimester pregnant women and is associated with elevated blood pressure., Clinical Relevance: Clinical assessment and screening of snoring are of utmost importance in obstetric nursing practice to potentially prevent or reduce the associated adverse cardiovascular consequences in women during pregnancy., (© 2018 Sigma Theta Tau International.)

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the associations of sleep hygiene and actigraphy measures of sleep with self-reported sleep quality in 197 pregnant women in northern Taiwan. Third-trimester pregnant women completed the Sleep Hygiene Practice Scale (SHPS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) as well as the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and wore an actigraph for 7 consecutive days. Student's t-test was used to compare the SHPS scores and means as well as variability of actigraphy sleep variables between poor sleepers (i.e., PSQI global score >5) and good sleepers (i.e., PSQI global score ≤5). Compared to good sleepers, poor sleepers reported significantly worse sleep hygiene, with higher SHPS scores and higher sleep schedule, arousal-related behavior, and sleep environment subscale scores. Poor sleepers had significantly greater intra-individual variability of sleep onset latency, total nighttime sleep, and wake after sleep onset than good sleepers. In stepwise linear regression, older maternal age (p = .01), fewer employment hours per week (p = .01), higher CES-D total score (p < .01), and higher SHPS arousal-related behavior subscale scores (p < .01) predicted self-reported global sleep quality. Findings support avoiding physically, physiologically, emotionally, or cognitively arousing activities before bedtime as a target for sleep-hygiene intervention in women during pregnancy., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Napping is highly prevalent in pregnant women, but the relation between nighttime sleep and daytime naps in pregnant women is poorly understood., Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the temporal association of nighttime sleep quality and quantity with subsequent daytime naps and the temporal association of daytime naps with sleep quality and quantity the following night in women during the third trimester of pregnancy in Taiwan., Methods: Sleep was assessed in 80 Taiwanese nulliparous women aged 31.70 years (SD = 4.58 years) using actigraphy and diaries for 7 consecutive days. Subjective sleep quality was examined using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Multiple linear regressions with generalized estimating equations were used to examine the temporal associations of nighttime sleep and daytime naps., Results: All women napped sometime during the study week, and mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global score was 6.6, indicating poor sleep quality. Fewer weekly work hours and shorter sleep duration the preceding night were associated with longer nap duration the next day. More work hours, longer nap duration, and more intense fatigue were associated with shorter sleep duration the following night., Discussion: Naps during pregnancy might indicate insufficient nighttime sleep, and longer daytime naps could compromise subsequent nighttime sleep. Further research is needed to determine if short sleep duration and longer daytime naps are associated with negative pregnancy outcomes.