Sleep disturbances in a community sample from preschool to school age

To study the prevalence of various sleep problems at school age in a Finnish community sample and to evaluate the persistence of the sleep problems from the preschool age to school age in a 4-year follow-up.

Parents completed the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children questionnaire on their child's sleep during the preschool years (3-6 years) and again during the school years (7-11 years). At follow-up the parents also completed a questionnaire on family structure and socio-economic status.

The parents of 481 children completed the questionnaires during both the first study and the follow-up (girls 49%, boys 51%; mean age 9, range 7-11). At the population level, sleep problems slightly declined from preschool to school age (P < 0.05). However, sleep problems at preschool age showed a strong persistence to school age. At the follow-up, 35% of the children who were considered to have a sleep disorder at preschool age still suffered from it at school age. At the community level, this equates to 9% of the children. The children with no sleep problems at preschool age rarely developed sleep problems at school age.

This study showed that various types of sleep problems are common at school age. Sleep problems persisted from preschool to school age at the individual level. It is important to recognize all types of sleep problems, especially persistent ones. Persistent sleep problems in children may cause and exacerbate other somatic, cognitive and psychiatric problems. Therefore, more attention should be focused on sleep problems in paediatric health care with interventions aimed particularly at children with prolonged sleep problems.