Comparing infant and toddler sleep patterns prior to and during the first wave of home confinement due to COVID-19 in Spain
Author
Cassanello, Pia
Ruiz-Botia, Irene
Sala-Castellvi, Pere
Martin, Juan Carlos
Martínez-Sanchez, Jose María
Publication date
2022ISSN
1432-1076
Abstract
Recent literature has shown that sleep patterns are shaped during the first years of life, playing a relevant role in children’s functioning. We focused on comparing sleep patterns in infants and toddlers in Spain before and during COVID-19 home confinement to assess the immediate impact on sleep patterns. We compared data from two cross-sectional surveys from parents of 1658 children three to 36 months of age from Spain. One conducted before COVID-19 (2017–2018, n = 1380) and another during COVID-19 pandemic (March–May of 2020, n = 254). We used an internet self-administrated questionnaire using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) criteria in both surveys. During confinement, infants and toddlers went to sleep later (median bedtime 21:30 before confinement vs. 21:36 during confinement (p = 0.004)). More infants and toddlers showed longer sleep latencies (> 30 min) during confinement median 33.9% versus 12.3% (p < 0.001). Based on the recommended BISQ criteria, we observed an increase in poor sleepers meeting at least one criterion of inadequate patterns during confinement (p < 0.001). Parental perception of a child’s sleep as problematics were 39.4% and 44.1% (adjusted p = 0.363) before and under lockdown, respectively. Conclusion: Home confinement generally affected infant’s and toddler’s sleep patterns negatively; however, parents did not report worse perception of sleep quality of their children. Follow-up studies can help understand the potential long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep patterns.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
61 - Medical sciences
Keywords
Brot del COVID-19
Primera infància
Confinament domiciliari
Trastorns del son
Patrons de son
Brote de COVID-19
Niñez temprana
Confinamiento domiciliario
Trastornos del sueño
Patrones de sueño
COVID-19 outbreak
Early childhood
Home confinement
Sleep disturbances
Sleep patterns
Pages
7
Publisher
Springer Nature
Is part of
European Journal of Pediatrics
Citation
Cassanello, Pia; Ruiz-Botia, Irene; Sala-Castellvi, Pere [et al.]. Comparing infant and toddler sleep patterns prior to and during the first wave of home confinement due to COVID-19 in Spain. European Journal of Pediatrics, 2022, [p. 1-15]. Disponible en: <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00431-022-04376-0>. Fecha de acceso: 20 ene. 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s00431-022-04376-0
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Ciències de la Salut [740]
Rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/