Department of Health and Nursing Science, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, PO Box 422, 4604, Kristiansand, Norway.
Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Jul 6;22(1):546. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-04862-1.
The early birth and hospitalization of a preterm infant in neonatal intensive care unit can produce several emotional and behavioural responses including sleep problems for parents. Few studies have explored sleep and its associations with health and HRQoL over time in this vulnerable parent population. This purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a prospective, comparative, longitudinal study of the sleep patterns and psychosocial health of preterm and full-born infants' parents during the first postpartum year.
A prospective, comparative, longitudinal feasibility study was conducted. Parents of preterm infants were compared to parents of full-born infants to identify if there were differences in outcomes between the groups. The parents were instructed to wear actigraphs and complete sleep diaries for two consecutive weeks, and responded to a digital questionnaire covering stress, insomnia, fatigue, depression, social support, self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life. Survey data were collected at infant ages of 2, 6, and 12 months, actigraphy and sleep diary data were collected at infant age of 2 months only. Descriptive analysis was used to describe recruitment and attrition rates. Differences between completers and dropouts were analysed with a chi-square test (categorical data) and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test for two independent samples (continuous variables).
Between June 2019 and March 2020, 25 parents of a preterm infant and 78 parents of a full-born infant were recruited from four neonatal intensive care units and two maternity wards, respectively, in four Norwegian hospitals. Feasibility was predefined as recruiting ≥ 75 parents each of preterm and full-born infants. The target for the full-born group was reached. However, the preterm group recruitment was challenging. Actigraphs, sleep diaries, and questionnaires were evaluated as feasible for use in a future study. Attrition rates were high in both groups at 6 and 12 months. No parent-related characteristics were associated with participation at 6 months. At 12 months, dropouts had a statistically significantly lower age in the full-born group (both parents) and higher age and body mass index in the preterm group (fathers).
A longitudinal study is feasible; however, procedural changes, including using active methods and contacting participants, are necessary to increase the recruitment of preterm infants' parents.
早产儿在新生儿重症监护病房中提前出生和住院会导致父母产生多种情绪和行为反应，包括睡眠问题。很少有研究探讨过在这个脆弱的父母群体中，随着时间的推移，睡眠及其与健康和 HRQoL 的关系。本研究的目的是评估一项前瞻性、比较性、纵向研究早产儿和足月儿父母在产后第一年的睡眠模式和心理社会健康的可行性。
进行了一项前瞻性、比较性、纵向可行性研究。将早产儿的父母与足月儿的父母进行比较，以确定两组之间的结果是否存在差异。指导父母连续两周佩戴活动记录仪并填写睡眠日记，并回答涵盖压力、失眠、疲劳、抑郁、社会支持、自我效能感和健康相关生活质量的数字问卷。在婴儿 2、6 和 12 个月时收集调查数据，仅在婴儿 2 个月时收集活动记录仪和睡眠日记数据。使用描述性分析来描述招募和流失率。使用卡方检验（分类数据）和两独立样本的曼-惠特尼-威尔科克森检验（连续变量）分析完成者和脱落者之间的差异。
2019 年 6 月至 2020 年 3 月，从挪威四家医院的四家新生儿重症监护病房和两家妇产科病房共招募了 25 名早产儿的父母和 78 名足月儿的父母。可行性的预设标准是每个早产儿和足月儿的父母分别招募≥75 名。全出生组的目标已经达到。然而，早产儿组的招募极具挑战性。活动记录仪、睡眠日记和问卷被评估为未来研究中可行的工具。两组在 6 个月和 12 个月时的失访率都很高。在 6 个月时，没有父母相关特征与参与相关。在 12 个月时，脱落者在足月儿组（父母双方）的年龄明显较低，而在早产儿组（父亲）的年龄和体重指数较高。
纵向研究是可行的；然而，需要进行程序上的改变，包括使用主动方法和联系参与者，以增加早产儿父母的招募。
