Sleep-Related Complaints in Children 5—13 Years Old: Prevalence and Content. Part 1

Sleep-related complaints are common in children and affect their daytime sleepiness, success and quality of life. However, often parents are unaware of or do not consider them as a problem demanding treatment. Aim. To identify the parental appraisals of the patterns and difficulties with sleep in children aged 5—13 years and parental subjective qualification of them as a problem. Methods. In 147 pairs of «parent-child 5—13 years old without diagnosed sleep disorders» (47 pairs with a child 5—6 years old, 49 with a child 7—9 years old, 51 with a child 10—13 years old), parents answered questions about the pattern children’s sleep habits and completed the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire. Children replied to Sleep Self-Report. Results. Difficulties with sleeping are common in children 5—13 years of age: irregular bedtimes, prolonged time falling asleep, falling asleep in someone else’s bed, night terrors, insufficient sleep time, frequent nocturnal awakenings, sleep-talking, early morning awakenings, long time to get up in the morning, fatigue in the afternoon 3 times a week or more are typical for every third child, while protests against going to bed, the impossibility of waking up on their own in the morning, difficulties in getting up in the morning — for every second child. For children 10—13 years old, lack of sleep was also wide-spread. Parents frequently do not consider sleep difficulties in children as a problem. The pattern of going to bed, sleeping, and waking up didn’t not differ between boys and girls, but girls rated their sleepiness higher, and rated sleep quality lower. With age, daytime and nighttime sleep was reduced, bedtime became later, while breathing problems during sleep, parasomnia symptoms and night terrors became rarer. Conclusion. Given the prevalence of complaints about various difficulties associated with sleep in children aged 5—13 years, the acute question is why parents do not qualify these difficulties as problems and do not seek help is relevant.

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