Development and validation of the Sleep Disturbances Scale for School-age Children

Abstract

Sleep disturbances have been linked in a bidirectional way to impaired development, behavioral alterations, cognitive deficit and higher according to the National Sleep Foundation Poll, since 69% of parents reported that their children showed some sleep problems in the course of the week previous to the interview. Common sleep disturbances in children include the difficulty to initiate and maintain sleep, present between the 10 and 40%, daytime sleepiness, which has been reported to occur between 10 and 65%. Parasomnias also represent an important complaint, between 6.2 and 14.4%, the more frequent of them being night terrors, somniloquy, enuresis and bruxism. Respiratory problems during sleep can occur up to 7.5%,14 while sleep movement disorders, such as restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement, occur between 2 and 23%. Overall, sleep disorders could affect more than 40% of children.