Association Between Sleep Disturbances With Neurodevelopmental Problems and Decreased Health-Related Quality of Life in Children With Fontan Circulation

Background Children with Fontan circulation are known to be at increased risk for neurodevelopmental problems and decreased health-related quality of life (HRQOL), but many factors that may contribute to this risk are unknown. Sleep disturbances may be one previously unidentified factor that contributes to this risk. Methods and Results We analyzed data from the Pediatric Heart Network Fontan cross-sectional study to evaluate associations between a parent or child report of sleep disturbance with reported neurodevelopmental concerns and HRQOL in 558 children with Fontan circulation. Parent-reported sleep disturbance was present in 11% of participants and child-reported sleep disturbance was present in 15%. Parent-reported sleep disturbance was associated with a significantly higher risk of attention problems, anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and developmental delay (P<0.001 for all). Similarly, parent-reported disturbance was associated with decreased HRQOL on both parent and child-reported HRQOL (P<0.001 for most domains). Child-reported sleep disturbances were associated with increased odds of anxiety, depression, and attention problems as well as worse HRQOL. These associations were present even after adjustment for cardiac, demographic, and socioeconomic factors that may affect HRQOL and neurodevelopmental status. Conclusions Sleep disturbances in children with Fontan circulation are associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental problems as well as reduced HRQOL compared with those without sleep disturbance. Better understanding of sleep disturbances is needed in children with Fontan circulation, as sleep disturbances may represent a reversible cause of neurodevelopmental problems and decreased HRQOL in this population.