ABSTRACT
The rhythmicity of bouts of quiet sleep (QS) was assessed, starting immediately after the baby's birth. The subjects were 58 healthy fullterm, single-birth, newborn infants, 26 females and 32 males. Using a non-intrusive recording procedure, their sleep was monitored for 24-h periods on the 1st and 2nd postnatal days in the hospital, then for 2 days in the home at 6 months. The cyclicity index permitted determination of the degree of periodicity as well as whether the recurrence of QS bouts showed significant periodicity. The number of subjects with significant cyclicity increased from 34% of the group on postnatal day 1 to 73% at 6 months; cyclicity scores (CS) increased from 0.71 to 0.86; and mean cycle length increased from 51 to 57 min. Infants with significant cyclicity on day 1 had lower mental scores at 6 months; but infants with significant cyclicity at 6 months had higher mental scores at 1 year. In addition, the infants with significant cyclicity on day 1 had lower birth weights and were born to younger mothers; but these relationships were also reversed at 6 months. Finally, cyclicity scores at 6 months were significantly correlated with 1-year mental scores, but the function of this relationship was quadratic. Thus, while significant cyclicity was found from the first postnatal day, the results suggest that regularity in QS cycles in the newborn period has negative implications for development, while such regularity at 6 months has positive implications-although excessive rigidity in rhythms at the later age, in terms of extremely high cyclicity scores, was also an indicator of developmental compromise.
ABSTRACT
Ultradian and diurnal rhythms in premature infants were investigated by assessing cyclicity of quiet sleep (QS) and the diurnal distribution of this cyclicity. The sleep of 49 preterm infants was recorded in the hospital for three successive 24-hour periods at 36 weeks conceptional age (CA), and 42 of the infants were recorded in the home for two 24-hour periods when they were 6 months old. Sleep was recorded nonintrusively by means of the motility monitoring system, which does not require instrumentation of the subject. Cyclicity was assessed using a procedure that permits assessment of significance as well as degree of cyclicity. Twenty of the 49 infants at the preterm age and 37 of the 42 infants at 6 months had sleep episodes with significant cyclicity. Mean cyclicity scores increased from 0.61 to 0.81 over age, but the cycle length of approximately 60 minutes did not change. There was no evidence for individual consistency across the two ages in any of the sleep or cyclicity measures. Evidence for diurnal differences was present from the preterm period. At both ages, there were far more analyzable sleep episodes and higher cyclicity at night. At the preterm period, cyclicity measures were negatively related to indices of advanced perinatal status as well as 6-month mental scores; at 6 months, the cyclicity measures were positively related to perinatal measures as well as mental scores. These results indicate the necessity for different interpretations of periodicity at the preterm and later age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)