title: Sleep disturbance and neurobehavioral performance among postpartum women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sleep disturbances cause neurobehavioral performance and daytime functioning impairments. Postpartum women experience high levels of sleep disturbance. Thus, the study objective was to describe and explore the relation between neurobehavioral performance and sleep among women during the early postpartum period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal field-based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 70 primiparous women and nine nulliparous women in a control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During their first 12 postpartum weeks, 70 primiparous women wore continuous wrist actigraphy to objectively monitor their sleep. Each morning they self-administered the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) to index their neurobehavioral performance. Nine nulliparous women in a control group underwent the same protocol for 12 continuous weeks. Postpartum PVT mean reciprocal (1/RT) reaction time did not differ from that of women in the control group at postpartum week 2, but then worsened over time. Postpartum slowest 10% 1/RT PVT reaction time was significantly worse than that of women in the control group at all weeks. Despite improvements in postpartum sleep, neurobehavioral performance continued to worsen from week 2 through the end of the study. Across the first 12 postpartum weeks, PVT measures were more frequently associated with percent sleep compared with total sleep time, highlighting the deleterious consequences of sleep disruption on maternal daytime functioning throughout the early postpartum period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Worsened maternal neurobehavioral performance across the first 12 postpartum weeks may have been influenced by the cumulative effects of sleep disturbance. These results can inform future work to identify the particular sleep profiles that could be primary intervention targets to improve daytime functioning among postpartum women, and indicate need for further research on the effectiveness of family leave policies. The time when postpartum women return to control-level daytime functioning is unknown.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-6040, USA.
authors.forename: Salvatore P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Insana
authors.forename: Kayla B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Hawley E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Montgomery-Downs
mesh_terms: D056044:Actigraphy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*