Introduction

due the potential impact of sleep disorders in children, the aim of our study was to determine their prevalence in the healthy population.

Materials and methods

we conducted a cross-sectional observational descriptive study. The setting was the Delicias Primary Care Centre in Malaga (Spain). The study universe was the catchment population of this centre aged 2 to 14 years; out of the 2423 eligible patients, we selected 225, a sample size with a precision of 5%, assuming a proportion of 30%. We conducted a survey by applying a validated questionnaire with items rated on a Likert scale, the Bruni Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children. We also collected data for other variables, such as the presence of respiratory disease or the frequent use of aerosol therapy, to assess whether the prevalence of sleep disorders was higher in patients with respiratory problems due to the potential side effects of their medication.

Results

we found an overall prevalence of sleep disorders of 61% in our sample, with a predominance of sleep-wake transition disorders (38%), followed for sleep breathing disorders (18%). We found problems with sleep initiation in 17%, hyperhidrosis in 15%, disorders of arousal in 13% and excessive daytime sleepiness in 10%. Sleep latency lasted longer than 30 minutes in 23% of the sample.

Sleep latency lasted more than 30 minutes in 23% of children.

Conclusions

our study confirms that there is a high prevalence of sleep problems in the paediatric age group. Therefore, the role of the paediatrician in this aspect is of great importance.

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