Sleep quality of primary caregivers of children with microcephaly from a public health facility in Alagoas, Brazil

Resumo

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sleep quality of primary caregivers of children with microcephaly that receive treatment in a public health facility.

METHODS: This is a transversal, descriptive and quali-quantitative study. Ten informal primary caregivers of children with microcephaly from a public health facility in Alagoas were interviewed one-on-one for 20 minutes using the mini-sleep questionnaire (MSQ). MSQ scores were statistically analyzed to describe sleep disturbances (mean, median and standard deviation), and the relationship between the level of microcephaly and sleep quality was tested by Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test.

RESULTS: Results found herein shows the predominance of women as caregivers of children with microcephaly. Overall, the studied population showed a high prevalence of alteration in sleep quality, with 70% of sampled caregivers showing severe sleep disturbances (scores greater than 30). No relationship between the level of microcephaly and sleep disturbances were found (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: There is a high prevalence of sleep disturbances among primary caregivers of children with microcephaly in the studied facility. This pattern is of great concern as such disorders may negatively affect not only the caregivers’ life quality, but also the quality of provided care.