Association Between Nausea and Vomiting During Pregnancy and Sleep Quality: Mediating Effect of Depressive Symptoms

Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) of varying degrees of severity are commonly experienced by pregnant women. This paper explores the association between NVP and poor sleep quality.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in an obstetrics clinic. A total of 2494 pregnant women (representing a response rate of 92.7%) completed a self-administered questionnaire.

Of the 2494 participants, the mean sleep duration was 7.76 hours, and 54.3% of them report poor sleep quality (ie, a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global score > 5). In this study, 49.1%, 49.3% and 1.6% women reported mild, moderate, and severe NVP, respectively. Compare with women with mild NVP, women with moderate or severe NVP were more likely to report poor sleep quality (χ ² = 30.16, p < 0.001). After adjusted for demographics and gestational age, moderate and severe NVP were associated with poor sleep quality (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.40-1.96, and AOR = 2.95, 95% CI = 1.44-6.02, respectively). Moreover, depressive symptoms mediated the association between NVP and poor sleep quality (β = 0.060, p = 0.033, 95% CI = 0.028-0.180).

Our study suggested that moderate and severe NVP increase the risk of poor sleep quality. Further studies are warranted that focus on the mechanisms of the association between NVP and poor sleep quality.