A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF PRENATAL MARIJUANA USE - EFFECTS ON SLEEP ANDAROUSAL AT AGE 3 YEARS

Objective: To test the hypothesis that sleep disruptions would be evid ent in 3-year-old children with a history of prenatal marijuana exposu re. Design: A prospective study using stratified random sampling begin ning in the fourth month of pregnancy. Marijuana and other substance u se were assessed by interviews at multiple time points. Offspring were followed up through age 3 years with multidomain assessments at fixed time points, including electroencephalographic sleep studies in the n ewborn period and at age 3 years. Setting: Primary care, prenatal clin ic at a university hospital. Subjects: The sample included 18 children with prenatal marijuana exposure (mean [+/-SD] age, 39.0+/-4.4 months ) and 20 control children (mean [+/-SD] age, 39.7+/-4.4 months). The t wo groups were similar in relationship to maternal age, race, income, education, or maternal use of alcohol, nicotine, and other substances in the first trimester. Main Outcome Measure: Sleep variables from pol ysomnographic recordings at age 3 years. Results: Children with prenat al;marijuana exposure showed more nocturnal arousals (mean [+/-SD], 8. 2+/-5.3 vs 3.2+/-4.6, P<.003), more awake time after sleep onset (mean [+/-SD], 27.4+/-20.0 vs 13.7+/-12.4 min; P<.03), and lower sleep effi ciency (mean [+/-SD], 91.0+/-3.8 vs 94.4+/-2.1; P<.03) than did contro l children. Conclusion: Prenatal marijuana exposure was associated wit h disturbed nocturnal sleep at age 3 years.