(HealthDay)—Mothers of children with atopic dermatitis (AD) are more likely to report difficulty falling asleep and daytime exhaustion, according to a study published online March 20 in JAMA Dermatology.
Faustine D. Ramirez, from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues recruited pregnant women residing in Avon, England, with an expected delivery date between April 1, 1991, and Dec. 31, 1992. Mother-child pairs were followed with a time-varying measure of child AD activity and severity. A total of 13,988 mother-child pairs were followed from birth for a median duration of 11 years.
The researchers found that for mothers of children with and without AD, sleep duration (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.09; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.90 to 1.32) and early morning awakenings (aOR, 1.16; 95 percent CI, 0.93 to 1.46) were similar. Independent of child comorbid asthma and/or allergic rhinitis, mothers of children with AD were more likely to report difficulty falling asleep (aOR, 1.36; 95 percent CI, 1.01 to 1.83), subjectively insufficient sleep (aOR, 1.43; 95 percent CI, 1.24 to 1.66), and daytime exhaustion (aOR, 1.41; 95 percent CI, 1.12 to 1.78). Worse child AD severity correlated with worse maternal sleep outcomes for all measures.
“In caring for children with AD, clinicians should inquire about caregiver sleep disturbances and fatigue and consider offering psychosocial support,” the authors write.
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