Docosahexaenoic Acid and Arachidonic Acid Supplementation and Sleep in Toddlers Born Preterm: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Study objectives: This secondary analysis characterized sleep patterns for toddlers born preterm and tested effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)+ arachidonic acid (AA) supplementation on children's caregiver-reported sleep. Exploratory analyses tested whether child sex, birth weight, and caregiver depressive symptomatology were moderators of the treatment effect.

Methods: Omega Tots was a single-site 180-day randomized (1:1), double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Children (n = 377) were age 10 to 16 months at enrollment, born at less than 35 weeks' gestation, assigned to 180 days of daily 200 mg DHA + 200 mg AA supplementation or placebo (400 mg corn oil), and followed after the trial ended to age 26 to 32 months. Caregivers completed a sociodemographic profile and questionnaires about their depressive symptomatology (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) and the child's sleep (Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire). Analyses compared changes in sleep between the DHA+AA and placebo groups, controlling for baseline scores. Exploratory post hoc subgroup analyses were conducted.

Results: Eighty-one percent (n_tx = 156; n_placebo = 150) of children had 180-day trial outcome data; 68% (n_tx = 134; n_placebo = 122) had postintervention outcome data. Differences in change between the DHA+AA and placebo groups after 180 days of supplementation were not statistically significant for the entire cohort. Male children (difference in nocturnal sleep change = 0.44, effect size = 0.26, P = .04; sleep problems odds ratio = 0.36, 95% confidence interval = 0.15, 0.82) and children of depressed caregivers (difference in nocturnal sleep change = 1.07, effect size = 0.65, P = .006; difference in total sleep change = 1.10, effect size = 0.50, P = .04) assigned to the treatment group showed improvements in sleep, compared to placebo.

Conclusions: Although there is no evidence of an overall effect of DHA+AA supplementation on child sleep, exploratory post hoc analyses identified important subgroups of children born preterm who may benefit. Future research including larger samples is warranted.

Clinical trial registration: Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT01576783.

Citation: Boone KM, Rausch J, Pelak G, Li R, Turner AN, Klebanoff MA, Keim SA. Docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid supplementation and sleep in toddlers born preterm: secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019;15(9):1197-1208.