Sleep patterns in an urban-dwelling minority pediatric population

Abstract

The current study examines the sleeping patterns of healthy, urban-dwelling, ethnic-minority children from lower socioeconomic standing using a validated screening measure, the abbreviated Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Parents of 52 children from well-care clinics of an inner-city children's hospital completed the abbreviated 33-item CSHQ, Hollingshead Index of Social Status, and a child health history. Mean child age was 6.71 years; range 4–10 years. Forty-four children were African American, and eight were Hispanic. Symptoms associated with sleep-disordered breathing, bedtime resistance, night waking and daytime sleepiness occurred more frequently in the current sample than the original validation sample. Parents of children in the current sample reported more concerns with sleep duration than the validation sample despite similar total sleep times. There were no group differences for sleep onset delay, sleep anxiety or parasomnias. Results suggest that healthy, ethnic-minority children living in impoverished, urban areas may have higher rates of snoring and more problematic sleep behaviors than children from middle-class, suburban environments. The potential impact of cultural and economic factors should be recognized during evaluations for sleep problems. As sleep-disordered breathing and excessive daytime sleepiness can negatively impact neurocognitive and behavioral functioning, screening of sleep habits during routine clinical care could help with identifying not only children at risk for sleep disorders but also those with poor sleep hygiene, thus providing opportunities for appropriate educational interventions.

Keywords:

• child
• sleep
• sleep problems
• socioeconomic status
• ethnicity

Acknowledgement

The study was funded in part by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Grant for Human Impact, awarded to Sanjeev V. Kothare, MD, 2005, Project # 1050425000; Fund # 240417.