Night sweats in children: prevalence and associated factors.

OBJECTIVE: The authors aimed to examine the prevalence and factors associated with night sweats (NS) in primary school children.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional design.

RESULTS: Among 6381 children (median age 9.2 (7.7-10.7) years) with complete information on NS, 3225 were boys (50.5%). 747 children (11.7%) were reported to have weekly NS in the past 12 months. Boys were more likely than girls to have NS (p<0.0001). Children with NS were more likely to have sleep-related symptoms and respiratory and atopic diseases. In addition, they were more likely to be hyperactive and have frequent temper outbursts. Using an ordinal regression model, NS was found to be significantly associated with male gender, younger age, allergic rhinitis, tonsillitis and symptoms suggestive of obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia and parasomnia.

CONCLUSION: NS is prevalent among school-aged children and is associated with the presence of sleep-related symptoms and respiratory and atopic diseases.