Feasibility of using actigraphy and motivational-based interviewing to improve sleep among school-age children and their parents.

Inadequate sleep occurs in 25% of our nation's children; poor sleep is associated with physical, cognitive, and social consequences. Developing good sleep hygiene in middle childhood is important, because habits typically extend to adolescence and adulthood; yet, there has been little research on sleep interventions for school-age children. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of a developmentally tailored, motivation-based intervention (MBI) focused on improving sleep behaviors in school-age children aged 8-11.

Daytime physical activity levels in school-age children with and without asthma.

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a significant predictor of health outcomes in children with and without chronic conditions. Few researchers have used actigraphy as an objective measure of PA during the child's normal daily routines, and the findings have been inconsistent. It is unclear if asthma can contribute to low PA levels.

Light is beneficial for infant circadian entrainment: an actigraphic study.

Aim: This article is a report of an exploratory study of the relation between light exposure and circadian rest-activity patterns in infants.

Background: Ambient light is a major environmental stimulus for regulation of circadian rhythm of sleep and wake in adults, but few studies have been conducted to examine environmental light exposure in relation to rest-activity circadian rhythm parameters of infants.

Methods: An intensive within-subject design was used with a convenience sample of 22 infants (mean postnatal age 49·8 days) who wore a combined light and activity monitoring device for seven consecutive days at home.

Mother-infant activity synchrony as a correlate of the emergence of circadian rhythm.

Objective: Entrainment to the day-night cycle is critical for infant sleep and social development. Synchronization of infant circadian systems with the social 24-hr day may require maternal activity signals as an entraining cue. This descriptive and exploratory research examines the activity level and circadian pattern in mothers and infants.

Parent-child agreement in report of nighttime respiratory symptoms and sleep disruptions and quality.

Introduction: Asthma control requires assessment of nighttime symptoms and sleep disruption. Cognitive and emotional development enables most school-aged children to report nocturnal problems, but providers often rely only on parental report, potentially limiting the comprehensiveness of their assessments and their ability to support the child's emerging efforts at shared management of their illness. This study investigated parent-child concordance in report of nighttime respiratory symptoms, sleep disruption, and quality of sleep in a sample of 9- to 11-year-old children with asthma.

Twenty-four hours light exposure experiences in postpartum women and their 2-10-week-old infants: an intensive within-subject design pilot study.

Background: Adequate light exposure is critical for entraining circadian rhythms, regulating sleep-wake cycles, and maintaining optimal mood. Yet, few studies have reported normative data on light exposure experiences in postpartum women and young infants; none has examined the two simultaneously.

Objectives: The objective of this pilot study was to document the 24-h light exposure experiences in postpartum women and their infants.

Nighttime sleep and daytime nap patterns in school age children with and without asthma.

Objective: This research examines subjective and objective report of naps and nighttime sleep in 9- to 11-year-old children with and without asthma.

Methods: This between subjects study collected prospective self-report diary and objective actigraphy measures of sleep from 27 children with and 27 without asthma during a 7-day/6-night at-home monitoring period.

Results: Thirty-two percent of participants reported daytime naps.

Actigraphic sleep and daytime naps in adolescent girls with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Objectives: A descriptive pilot study to examine sleep and daytime naps in adolescent girls with chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain.

Methods: Seventeen girls (14.9 +/- 2.

Ovarian steroids and premenstrual symptoms: a comparison of group differences and intra-individual patterns.

To examine the relationship of gonadal hormone and symptom patterns across the menstrual cycle, women screened for 2-3 cycles completed an intensive study cycle; 26 had a low-severity symptoms (LS), 20, a premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and 26, a premenstrual magnification pattern (PMM). All completed daily symptom diaries and collected late afternoon urine samples which were assayed for pregnanediol and estradiol for that cycle. The PMS and PMM groups had significantly more positive cross-correlations of pregnanediol and symptoms than the LS group.

Associations between fracture incidence and use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate and anti-epileptic drugs in women with developmental disabilities.

Purpose: We sought to evaluate any association between incidence of osteoporotic fractures and use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) and/or anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) among women and girls with developmental disabilities.

Methods: Cross-sectional population-based observational study of all noninstitutionalized females with developmental disabilities age >/=13 who received fee-for-service Medicaid in Washington State during 2002 (n = 6,773), using administrative data.

Main Findings: In a sample of 6,773 females, 140 women (2%) had an osteoporotic fracture during 2002.

Factors associated with objective (actigraphic) and subjective sleep quality in young adult women.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe factors associated with actigraphic and subjective sleep quality in young women.

Methods: Participants were 73 regularly menstruating women, 20-40 years old, who were not taking oral contraceptives, pregnant, or shift workers. Women contributed an average of 7 nights of actigraphy data during the luteal menstrual cycle phase, resulting in a total of 595 nights of data.

Effect of foot bathing on distal-proximal skin temperature gradient in elders.

Increased distal (foot)-proximal (abdominal) skin temperature gradient (DPG) has been associated with better sleep initiation. Warm foot bath can affect distal skin temperature to change DPG. However, the optimum water temperature and duration necessary to raise DPG has not been established.

Decreased sleep spindles and spindle activity in midlife women with fibromyalgia and pain.

Objectives: To compare sleep-spindle incidence (number of spindles per minute of non-rapid eye movement [NREM] stage 2 sleep) and duration, spindle wave time (seconds per epoch in NREM stage 2 sleep), spindle frequency activity, and pain measures (pressure pain threshold, number of tender points, skinfold tenderness) between midlife women with fibromyalgia (FM) and moderate to high pain to a control group of sedentary women without pain. A second goal was to explore the extent to which pain pressure thresholds, age, and depression explain the variance in spindle incidence.

Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Variations in sleep hygiene practices of women with and without insomnia.

Sleep hygiene education is a basic component of behavioral treatment for chronic insomnia, yet the actual sleep hygiene practices of people with insomnia have not been well documented. In this descriptive secondary analysis, midlife women ages 41-55 years with either chronic insomnia (n = 92) or good sleep (n = 29) kept diaries of sleep perceptions and sleep hygiene practices during 6 nights of somnographic monitoring at home. In both groups few reported smoking cigarettes (<10%), most drank caffeine (>80%), and many averaged 30 min of exercise per day ( approximately 50%).

Effect of a nighttime magnetic field exposure on sleep patterns in young women.

Since poor sleep quality is associated with multiple health problems, it is important to understand factors that may affect sleep patterns. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a continuous, 60-Hz, nighttime magnetic field exposure on sleep outcomes in young women sleeping at home. The study was a randomized crossover trial, comparing intervention (0.

Lifestyle practices and nocturnal sleep in midlife women with and without insomnia.

Relationships between common lifestyle practices important to sleep hygiene (e.g., smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, ingesting caffeine, exercising, bed times, getting-up times) and nocturnal sleep have not been documented for women with insomnia in their home environments.

Pain, psychological variables, sleep quality, and natural killer cell activity in midlife women with and without fibromyalgia.

In women with fibromyalgia (FM), central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction in pain, mood, and sleep processes could be associated with changes in immune system indicators. The primary purpose of this study was to compare pain, psychological variables, subjective and objective sleep quality, lymphocyte phenotypes and activation markers, and natural killer activity (NKA) in midlife women with and without FM. A secondary purpose was to explore relationships among these variables in a step-wise regression.

Axillary and thoracic skin temperatures poorly comparable to core body temperature circadian rhythm: results from 2 adult populations.

Data from 2 separate studies were used to examine the relationships of axillary or thoracic skin temperature to rectal temperature and to determine the phase relationships of the circadian rhythms of these temperatures. In study 1, axillary skin and rectal temperatures were recorded in 19 healthy women, 21 to 36 years of age. In study 2, thoracic skin and rectal temperatures were recorded in 74 healthy women, 39 to 59 years of age.

Self-reported sleep quality and fatigue correlates with actigraphy in midlife women with fibromyalgia.

Background: Limited data are available on the relationship between self-reported sleep quality, fatigue, and behavioral sleep patterns in women with fibromyalgia (FM).

Objectives: To compare self-reported sleep quality, fatigue, and behavioral sleep indicators obtained by actigraphy between women with FM and sedentary women without pain, and to examine relationships among these variables.

Methods: Twenty-three women with FM (M = 47.

Stress exposure, psychological distress, and physiological stress activation in midlife women with insomnia.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe perceived and polysomnograhic (PSG) sleep patterns and determine whether stress exposure, psychological distress, and physiological stress activation differed among midlife women with psychophysiologic-type (PP-type) or subjective only-type (SO-type) insomnia or no insomnia.

Methods: Women had their sleep monitored, collected urine samples, and completed questionnaires in a week-long field study, and 53 women met criteria for insomnia types or no insomnia based on reported sleep quality and PSG sleep efficiency.

Results: As expected, women with PP-type insomnia were found to have the lowest sleep efficiency, took longer to fall asleep, had more wakefulness after sleep onset, and had more fragmented sleep.