0996 Parental Sleep Disturbance and Its Impact on Childhood Medication Adherence

Introduction Childhood medication adherence is paramount in treating both acute and chronic medical conditions. Sleep disturbances in children and adults have been linked to cognitive performance, cardiovascular function, immune regulation and behavioral disturbances. Despite documented interactions between concomitant parental substance use, depressive symptoms, and financial strain with sleep, there is limited data on how parental sleep disturbances impact childhood medication adherence. Methods Data was extracted from a mTURK dataset with 740 participants who were 18 years and older with at least one child who had been prescribed a medication within the prior three months. Parental sleep was measured using the PHQ-9 with a scale of 0 for “no trouble”, 1 for “several days”, 2 for “more than half of the days”, or 3 for “nearly all the days”. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scale was used to determine a total ACE score (0-10). Children medication adherence was measured based on the following questions, “How often has your child followed his/her medical treatment instructions in the past three months?” and “How often has your child taken medication as prescribed in the past three months?” Responses were coded as “Adherent” if parents responded “Always” to both questions, but were otherwise coded as non-adherent. Statistical analysis was performed using RStudio software. Logistic regression analysis and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used to test association between variables. Results We found a statistically significant relationship between the parental response to the sleep question on the PHQ-9 and the parent’s report of child’s adherence to medication. For every point increase in PHQ-3, the odds of having high adherence to a child’s medication decreased by 17%, when controlling for parental gender, chronic disease status, and parental ACE status (p< 0.05). There was also a weak positive correlation (0.19) with higher parental ACE score and sleep difficulties as measured by the PHQ-9. Conclusion There is a positive correlation between parental sleep disturbances and childhood medication adherence; this is a potential area for therapeutic intervention. Support (if any)