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Sleep disorders and their relationship to psychological disturbance in children with epilepsy
G Stores1, L Wiggs, G Campling
1University of Oxford of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Park Hospital for Children, UK.
Insights
Children with epilepsy experience significantly more sleep disturbances, such as poor sleep quality and sleep anxiety, compared to healthy peers. These sleep issues are linked to daytime behavioral problems in younger children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Sleep Medicine
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Sleep disturbances are common in children, impacting development and well-being.
- Epilepsy in children can present unique challenges, including potential effects on sleep and behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare sleep disturbances and daytime behavior in children with epilepsy versus healthy controls.
- To investigate associations between sleep problems, daytime behavior, and seizure frequency in pediatric epilepsy.
Main Methods:
- Parental questionnaires assessed sleep disturbances and daytime behavior in 79 children with epilepsy (ages 5-16) and 73 healthy controls.
- Sleep disturbance types included poor quality sleep, sleep anxiety, and disordered breathing.
- Behavioral factors included conduct problems, hyperactivity, and attention issues.
Main Results:
- Children with epilepsy exhibited significantly higher rates of sleep disorders, especially poor sleep quality and sleep anxiety.
- In children aged 5-11, disturbed daytime behavior correlated with sleep problems, particularly poor sleep quality.
- Seizure frequency was significantly associated with anxieties about sleeping.
Conclusions:
- Persistent sleep disturbance in children with epilepsy has serious psychological and developmental implications.
- Further research is needed to understand specific epilepsy types, sleep disturbance nature, and related psychological dysfunction.
Abstract:
By means of parental questionnaires, sleep disturbances were assessed in 79 schoolchildren with epilepsy (mean age 10.12, range 5-16 years) for comparisons with 73 healthy control children matched for gender and to within a maximum of 6 months of age. The daytime behaviour of the children with epilepsy was also assessed by questionnaire. The children with epilepsy were considered representative of such children under general paediatric care. Sleep disturbance was classified into five basic types (poor quality sleep, anxieties about sleep, disturbances during sleep, symptoms of disordered breathing during sleep and short duration sleep) and the behaviour questionnaire provided scores on five factors (conduct problems, hyperactivity, attention problems, anxiety and physical complaints). Compared with normal controls children with epilepsy showed much higher rates of sleep disorders, particularly poor quality sleep and anxieties about sleep. In children aged 5-11 years associations were found between disturbed daytime behaviour and sleep problems, particularly poor quality sleep. There was also a significant association between seizure frequency and anxieties about sleeping. This study highlights the potentially serious psychological and other developmental implications of persistent sleep disturbance to children with epilepsy, and the need for further research on specific types of epilepsy with careful identification of the nature of both sleep disturbance and related psychological dysfunction.