Sleep Disorders Five Years After Acute Provoked Neonatal Seizures

To evaluate whether abnormal sleep is associated with adverse outcomes for children who survived acute provoked neonatal seizures, and their parents.

This 9-center study prospectively followed newborns with acute provoked seizures. When children reached age 5 years, parents completed the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire-Sleep Related Breathing Disorders (PSQ-SRBD) subscale, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3, and the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale. Children were also assessed with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-IV (WPPSI-IV). Spearman correlations and multivariable analyses were used to evaluate risk factors for sleep problems.

The mean CSHQ score was 45 ± 7; 77 of 118 children (65%) had an abnormal score (above the healthy sleep threshold of 41). On the PSQ-SRBD, 32 of 119 children (27%) screened positive for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). SDB symptoms were more common among children with cerebral palsy (42% with vs 22% without; P = .03) and epilepsy (54% with vs 24% without; P = .02). Children with lower scores on the Vineland-3 (rho = -0.25; P = .01) and WPPSI-IV (rho = -0.31; P = .004) at 5 years of age were more likely to have symptoms of SDB. Worse CSHQ and PSQ-SRBD scores were associated with higher parental anxiety (rho = 0.28 [P = .002] and rho = 0.34 [P = .0002], respectively) and depression scores on the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (rho = 0.16 [P = .08] and rho = 0.17 [P = .07], respectively).

Two-thirds of early school-aged survivors of acute provoked neonatal seizures had parent-reported sleep abnormalities and one-quarter screened positive for SDB. Early screening and effective treatment for sleep disorders could be an innovative, practice-changing approach to improve outcomes after neonatal seizures.