Document Type

Article

Department

General Surgery

Abstract

The study was undertaken to explore patterns, habits, and problems for sleep in preschool children of urban Karachi, Pakistan. Two schools participated with a sample size of 297 preschool children. A cross-sectional study design was implemented. The mean age of children was 4.6 ± 0.71 years, and the male/female ratio was 49:51. The average daily sleep duration (nocturnal + daytime nap) was 9.51 ± 1.21 hours. At least one sleep problem was reported in 73% of children, the most frequently found sleep problems were, bedtime and wakeup resistance (25.6%), sleepy or tired during the day (46%), complains of growing pains in the legs (25%), nocturnal enuresis (19%) and nighttime fears (18%). Sleep problems were found significantly correlated with: child clinging to an adult (r = 0.134, p value 0.021), whining (r = 0.213, p value <0.001), fussing (r = 0.136, p value 0.019), prosocial behavior (r = -0.137, p value 0.019), peer problems (r = 0.151, p value 0.009), hyperactivity (r = 0.216, p value <0.001), conduct problems (r = 0.313, p value <0.001), emotional problems (r = 0.346, p value <0.001) and SDQ total difficulty score (r = 0.398, p value < 0.001). Sleep inconsistencies begin during early years; sleep disorders result from poor sleep habits and poor sleep habits results in insufficient sleep. The findings confirmed raising parental awareness on sleep hygiene to recognize and seek appropriate healthcare as and when needed. It is however recommended to introduce interventions involving schools, healthcare practitioners and parents to improve the situation. Another important recommendation is to plan future research involving objective measures to capture sleep duration in children, such as actigraph or sleep diaries maintained by parents for more accurate ways to measure sleep duration.

Publication (Name of Journal)

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science

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