<p class="first" id="d13557403e99">Women's sleep quality has been reported to change
during pregnancy; prevalence estimates
of poor sleep quality during pregnancy vary widely. To further understand the observed
variation of findings, we conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the prevalence of
poor sleep quality during pregnancy. Articles (N = 24) that reported prevalence of
poor sleep quality as captured by the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) ≥ 5 were
included, with a total of 11,002 participants contributing data. PubMed, PsycINFO,
and Web of Science databases were systematically searched. Results indicated that
the average PSQI score during pregnancy was 6.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) [5.30,
6.85], and 45.7%, 95% CI [36.5%, 55.2%], of pregnant women experienced poor sleep
quality. Longitudinal studies indicated that sleep quality decreased from second (M = 5.31,
SE = 0.40) to third trimester (M = 7.03, SE = 0.85) by 1.68 points, 95% CI [0.42,
2.94]. Gestational age moderated the average PSQI scores and prevalence of PSQI scores
≥5; older samples reported higher mean PSQI scores and higher prevalence of poor sleep
quality. Clinicians should be aware that some reduction in sleep quality is expected
during pregnancy, but complaints of very poor sleep quality could require intervention.
Future research should examine various factors underlying poor sleep quality during
pregnancy.
</p>