Survey of sleep problems amongst Singapore children in a psychiatric setting

Background Sleep problems are common among children and range from transient ones to chronic problems like snoring, somnambulism and bedwetting. Sleep problems in turn impact on children’s health, learning, school performance, quality of life and are often closely related to mental health problems. Population based surveys have also revealed a strong association between sleep problems and behavioral and emotional symptoms in children. The objectives of our study were to estimate the prevalence of sleep problems in children and adolescents attending psychiatric services in Singapore and to identify the correlates of sleep problems in this population. Methods A total of 490 parents/guardians accompanying their children to the child guidance clinic consented to complete a questionnaire, which was used to collect both sociodemographic data and the frequency of sleep problems. These included sleep starts, confusional arousal, sleep talking, bruxism, sleep walking, sleep terrors, nightmares, sleep paralysis and nocturnal enuresis. Psychiatric diagnosis was determined from case record survey of the participating subjects. Results About 62.2% (95% CI 57.8%– 66.6%) of the children suffered from at least one problem. Girls were significantly more likely to suffer from sleep problems when compared with boys (v2 = 8.5, P < 0.005). The significant predictors for sleep problems were gender, diagnosis of developmental disorders and a family history of sleep problems. Conclusions The study highlights the need for child and adolescent psychiatrists to enquire about sleep problems since sleep disturbances of children are frequent and may not be self-reported.