A preliminary investigation of sleep quality and patient-reported outcomes in pediatric solid organ transplant candidates

• Authors: Ana M. Gutierrez-Colina, University of Georgia; Grace K. Cushman, University of Georgia; Cyd K. Eaton, Johns Hopkins University; Lauren F. Quast, University of Georgia; Jennifer Lee, Emory University; Kristin L. Rich, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Bonney Reed-Knight, Emory University; Laura Mee, Emory University; Rene Romero, Childrens Healthcare Atlanta; Chad Mao, Emory University; Roshan George, Emory University; Ronald L. Blount, University of Georgia
• Journal Title: Pediatric Transplantation
• Volume: Volume 23, Number 2
• Publisher: Wiley Inc. | 2019-03-01, Pages e13348-e13348
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/petr.13348
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Pediatrics; Transplantation; adherence barriers; health-related quality of life; patient-reported outcomes; pretransplant; sleep; OF-LIFE; MEDICATION ADHERENCE; ADOLESCENTS; CHILDREN; DISTURBANCES; BARRIERS; NONADHERENCE; DURATION

Abstract

The current cross-sectional, single-center study aimed to examine sleep quality in a sample of adolescents awaiting solid organ transplantation and to explore associations between sleep quality and both health-related quality of life and barriers to adherence. Thirty adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years (M age = 15.26, SD = 1.89) who were awaiting transplantation participated in this study. Participants completed measures of sleep quality, health-related quality of life, and barriers to adherence. T test and correlational analyses were performed to examine study aims. Adolescents awaiting transplantation had significantly lower levels of overall sleep quality compared to published norms of healthy peers. Domains of sleep quality were positively related to emotional and psychosocial health-related quality of life. Sleep quality domains were also negatively related to adherence barriers. This study provides preliminary evidence demonstrating that sleep quality among transplant candidates is compromised, and that poor sleep quality is related to adolescents’ functioning across a number of domains during the pretransplant period. Results highlight the clinical importance of assessing and targeting sleep functioning in adolescents awaiting transplantation in order to reduce the negative influence of suboptimal sleep on functioning during this vulnerable period.