The prevalence and correlates of habitual snoring during pregnancy

Mounting evidence implicate habitual snoring, a prominent symptom of sleep-disordered breathing, as an important risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Little, however, is known about the determinants of habitual snoring among pregnant women. We sought to assess its prevalence and to identify maternal characteristics associated with habitual snoring during pregnancy.

Pregnant women (N = 1,303) receiving prenatal care provided information about habitual snoring before and during pregnancy in in-person interviews completed in early pregnancy. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) from multivariable models designed to identify factors associated with snoring during pregnancy.

Approximately 7.3 % of pregnant women reported habitual snoring during early pregnancy. The odds of habitual snoring during pregnancy was strongly related with maternal reports of habitual snoring prior to the index pregnancy (aOR = 24.32; 95 % CI, 14.30-41.51). Advanced maternal age (≥35 years) (aOR = 2.02; 95 % CI, 1.11-3.68), history of pregestational diabetes (aOR = 3.61; 95 % CI, 1.07-12.2), history of mood and anxiety disorders (aOR = 1.81; 95 % CI, 1.02-3.20), and prepregnancy overweight (25-29.9 kg/m(2)) (aOR = 2.31; 95 % CI, 1.41-3.77) and obesity (≥30 kg/m(2)) (aOR = 2.81; 95 % CI, 1.44-5.48) status were statistically significant risk factors for habitual snoring during pregnancy. In addition, maternal smoking during pregnancy (aOR = 2.70; 95 % CI, 1.17-6.26) was associated with habitual snoring during pregnancy.

Identification of risk factors for habitual snoring during pregnancy has important implications for developing strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing, promoting improved sleep hygiene and improved pregnancy outcomes among reproductive-age women.