Kenny Walter

This content was originally published on HCPLive, a sister publication of NeurologyLive. To view the original post,

While there are many assumptions as to how the ongoing 

 around the world, there is not much known how sleep has ultimately been impacted for parents and children.

A team, led by Ghadir Zreik, PhD, Psychology Department, The Center for Psychobiological Research, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, examined the possible consequences the pandemic and home confinement is having on maternal anxiety, maternal insomnia, and maternal reports of sleep problems among 264 children between 6-72 months in Israel.

The study population included 120 male children, with a mean age of 31.27 months. Approximately 38% of the infants in the study were firstborns, while families had a mean of 2.15 children. The mean age of mothers in the study was 33.97 years old and their mean duration of education was 16.37 years. In addition, 54.2% of mothers reported a change in the family income because of the crisis.

Zreik and colleagues specifically explored whether mothers experience change in their own insomnia symptoms and child’s sleep between pre-crisis and crisis. Furthermore, they conducted a web-based study 4 weeks into the national lockdown in Israel.

The investigators found a high frequency of maternal clinical insomnia in recent months—23% during the pandemic compared to 11% in the 1-2 months prior to the pandemic. Additionally, approximately 80% of mothers reported no change in their child’s sleep quality, duration, and sleeping arrangement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, approximately 30% of these mothers reported a negative change in their child’s sleep quality, as well as a decrease in sleep duration. There was also mothers who reported a positive change.

"These findings suggest that the changes in sleep patterns during the COVID‐19 pandemic are varied and that no unified change for the worse should be expected,” the authors wrote. “Further consideration of changes in sleep within the family context during this ongoing crisis is needed.”

The ongoing pandemic has been linked to a number of psychiatric and other issues, including depression, anxiety, and sleep. The disruption of traditional work and school hours has only exacerbated those issues.

Researchers have long believed sleep is critical for both adult and child psychical and psychosocial well-being.

“The current stressful circumstances of home confinement and major changes to daily routines, higher levels of anxiety, decrease in daylight exposure, increased blue light exposure due to massive reliance on digital media, changes in diet, and reduced physical activity may all have negative implications for sleep quality,” the authors wrote.

Recently, researchers in Greece found 37.6% of participants scored above the cut-off score for insomnia, significantly higher than the 10% worldwide prevalence estimated prior to the pandemic.

Maternal perceptions of sleep problems among children and mothers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic in Israel,

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The rate of maternal clinical insomnia increased from 11% pre-pandemic to 23% during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

COVID-19 Pandemic Associated With Sleep Issues

 on HCPLive, part of the HCPLive Network.

The FDA has given 510(k) clearance for Synaptive Medical's Evry, a point-of-care head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system designed to provide immediate access to diagnostic imaging for patients in need of emergency care, including potential complications arising from COVID-19, ischemic stroke, neurological damage or potential head trauma. 

The device features a mid-field 0.5T superconducting magnet that is small enough to reduce the footprint currently allotted to MRI machines. Evry also includes  predefined imaging protocols, automated series planning including volume section, a detachable stretcher to support bedside transfers and a multichannel head coil with patient-specific customized fitting intended to optimize image quality.

Because of its small size, Evry can be delivered without cranes and forgoes yearly cryogen refills, a cryogen pipe and reinforced flooring, providing significant cost-savings for healthcare systems.

“As medical professionals, our goal is to utilize every tool at our disposal that will improve outcomes for our patients in a variety of situations, Gustavo Pradilla, MD, Chief of Neurosurgery, Grady Memorial Hospital, said in a statement. “With the availability of Evry in the US, we will now be able to provide critical diagnostic information in settings beyond where traditional MRIs are offered, which can significantly expedite the speed at which we make actionable decisions that positively impact patient care.” 

All of Synaptive’s products, including Evry, can be used independently or with outside systems.

Evry will soon be commercially available in the US and will provide MRI imaging to patients in critical care settings. 

Author | Kenny Walter

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COVID-19 Pandemic Associated With Sleep Issues

FDA Clears Point-of-Care MRI System