Sleep Problems among Pre-School Children in Qazvin, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Sleep problems are one of the main health issues raised by families. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the sleep problems of pre-school children in Iran.

METHODS: Five hundred and seventy-nine children aged 3-6 years were randomly recruited from 15 kindergartens in the city of Qazvin in Iran. The Iranian version of BEARS (Bedtime problems, Excessive daytime sleepiness, Awakenings during the night, Regularity and duration of sleep and Snoring) and the Children's Sleep Habits questionnaire (CSHQ) were completed by interviewers. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 19. The data were analysed with a Student's t-test, chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS: The study population consisted of 299 boys (51.6%) and 280 (48.3%) girls with a mean age of 4.1 years (SD 0.8). The mean body mass index (BMI) of the children was 15 (SD 2.1). The average sleep duration among the children was 10:54 h/day (SD 00:48). They went to bed late (23:18 h SD 00:48) and woke early (09:26 h; SD 01:00). Daytime sleepiness was reported by 6.9% of the participants. The incidence of awakening during the night, sleep-disordered breathing and snoring was 13.9%, 1.2% and 2.7%, respectively. Most of the children shared a room with their parents (87%) (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The children had sleep-related problems, including a late bedtime, delayed sleep onset, daytime sleepiness, midnight awakening, sleep-disordered breathing, and snoring. Sharing a room was very common among the Iranian children.