Abstract
BACKGROUND: Associations have been suggested between prenatal exposure and allergic diseases in children as well as between respiratory allergies and maternal sleep disorders during pregnancy. PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the association between maternal sleep disorders during pregnancy and allergic diseases, including respiratory, skin, and ocular allergies, in their children. METHODS: This study was based on the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. Sleep disorders during pregnancy were defined as an Athens Insomnia Scale score of ≥6. Allergic diseases in children up to 5 years of age were assessed by maternal self-report on "bronchial asthma," "atopic dermatitis," "food allergy," and "allergic conjunctivitis/allergic rhinitis/hay fever." Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: A total of 11,123 mother-child pairs were included. The mean gestational age at registration was 19.6±7.6 weeks. During pregnancy, 4,115 women (37.0%) experienced sleep disorders. Additionally, 53.7% of the participants had a history of parity, 8.8% worked night shifts, and 0.4% used sleep medications. In the crude models, maternal sleep disorders during pregnancy were associated with all examined allergic diseases in children. After the adjustment for all confounders, the associations remained significant for atopic dermatitis and allergic conjunctivitis/allergic rhinitis/hay fever (HR [95% CI], 1.09 [0.97-1.23] for bronchial asthma, 1.17 [1.05-1.31] for atopic dermatitis, 1.11 [0.98-1.26] for food allergy, and 1.25 [1.13-1.39] for allergic conjunctivitis/allergic rhinitis/hay fever). CONCLUSION: Maternal sleep disorders during pregnancy were associated with atopic dermatitis as well as allergic conjunctivitis/allergic rhinitis/hay fever in children.