Sleep and its relation to health-related quality of life in 3-10-year-old children

BackgroundConsidering the reports of increasing sleep problems in children, affecting health and well-being in young children and their families, we found it important to gain more knowledge about sleep and its correlation to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in young, healthy children. The aims with this study were to describe sleep quality, sleep duration, and HRQoL in healthy 3-10-year-old children and to test associations between children's sleep and HRQoL.MethodsParents of 160 children (average age: 6.9years, SD 2.2) participated in the study. Sleep onset problems (SOP), sleep maintenance problems (SMP), and sleep duration were measured by the Pediatric Insomnia Severity Index (PISI). KIDSCREEN-27 was used to measure HRQoL in five dimensions: physical well-being, psychological well-being, autonomy and parent relation, social support and peers, and school environment.ResultsThe average score was 2.2 for SOP (SD +/-2.2) and 1.3 for SMP (SD +/-1.6). Few children (2%) were reported to sleep less than 8 h per night. Younger children had statistically significant higher SOP and SMP than older children. Correlations were found between SOP and poor psychological well-being (p<0.05, rho=-0.16), and between SMP and poor physical wellbeing (p<0.05, rho=-0.16), psychological well-being (p<0.05, rho=-0.21), poor school environment (p<0.01, rho=-0.29), autonomy and parent relation (p<0.05, rho=-0.16), and poor social support and peers (p<0.05, rho=-0.19). Conclusion: Children's sleep associates with health-related quality of life and needs to be acknowledged in child health care settings and schools.

Automated summary

The study reveals the correlation between children's sleep and health-related quality of life, with few children sleeping less than 8 hours per night. Younger children tend to have higher sleep problems, and these issues can affect children's psychological and physical well-being, as well as their school environment.