Prevalence and influencing factors of sleep disorders among preschool children in Urumqi city: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background Sleep disorders refer to physiological and psychological states that cause adverse consequences due to the inability to fall asleep or poor sleep quality. The prevalence of sleep disorders varies greatly in different countries and regions due to different causes. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of sleep disorders among preschool children in Urumqi city, China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with stratified random cluster sampling. Children aged 3–6 years old in one kindergarten randomly selected from each of the 8 districts of Urumqi from March to July 2022, and their parents were surveyed with a sleep quality questionnaire. Results The prevalence of sleep disorders among preschool children in Urumqi was 14.29% (191/1336), and the prevalence of different symptoms was 42.81% for limb movements, 19.61% for snoring, 18.11% for bruxism, 16.39% for sleep talking, 12.57% for sweating, 11.60% for nocturnal awakening, 8.46% for nightmares, 6.89% for bed wetting, 3.74% for apnea, and 3.29% for sleepwalking. The prevalence of body movements, snoring, sweating, night-wake, nightmares, bed-wetting, apnea, and sleepwalking among different ethnicities were significantly different (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that the major risk factors of sleep disorders were difficulty adapting to new environments, unwillingness to express emotions, inconsistent attitudes of the family toward children’s education, running before bedtime, strict family education methods, etc. Conclusion The prevalence of sleep disorders in preschool children in Urumqi is lower than the average level reported in other studies. Many factors affect the prevalence of sleep disorders in preschool children, but it is necessary to focus on the ability to adapt to new environments, psychological problems, and the impact of family education on sleep disorders. Further studies on the prevention and treatment of sleep disorders are needed for different ethnicities.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Sleep Disorders in Children Aged 7–17: Insights from Parental Observations at the Dental Office

“…In a study conducted with 262 Dutch children with ages ranging from 7 to 12 and a mean age of 8.5 years, 25% of the sample presented at least one sleep-related problem [27]. According to the study by Gao et al [28], the prevalence of sleep disorders among 1336 Chinese children of younger ages (3-6 years) was 14.29%. The highest frequency of these disorders were alterations related to the sleep-wake transition since 42.81% of the sample presented movements of the extremities, 18.11% had bruxism and 16.39% spoke during sleep.…”