Late-pregnancy sleep quality and psychological distress in Iranian primiparous women

Background: Even though pregnant women commonly experience poor sleep quality during pregnancy, the role of sleep quality in psychological problems is still unclear. This study was carried out to determine the associations between poor sleep quality in the third trimester of pregnancy and the psychological distress among Iranian primiparous women. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 300 primiparous women who attended prenatal care centers in Babol, Iran, in 2019. The sleep quality and the psychological status of the pregnant women were measured with Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI) and Symptom CheckList-90 (SCL-90), respectively. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association(s) between independent, dependent, and control confounding variables. Results: Poor sleep quality was found in 74% of the participants. Poor sleep quality was not associated with psychological distress (the total score of SCL-90-R). Compared with women with good sleep quality, women with poor sleep quality were more likely to have hostility (adjusted OR = 2.51; CI = 1.13, 5.55), somatization (adjusted OR = 4.31; CI = 1.96, 9.47), and less paranoid (OR = 0.22; CI = 0.11, 0.44) during the third trimester of pregnancy. Conclusion: It is suggested that poor sleep quality was significantly associated with subscales of SCL-90 (hostility and somatization, paranoid) during the third trimester. Thus, further research on the topic is needed.