Biomedical subjects

E J Paavonen

Publications and source records attributed to E J Paavonen.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Poor sleep and psychiatric symptoms at school: an epidemiological study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between sleep problems and psychiatric symptoms at school. A random sample consisting of 5813 eight- to nine-year-old children was selected from ordinary schools. Both parents' and children's reports of sleep problems were taken into account. The psychiatric symptoms were addressed according to the teachers' reports (the Rutter Scale B). Children with severe sleep problems were more likely to have a psychiatric disturbance according to the Rutter B Scale (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.85-3.25). Logistic regression models showed that severe sleep problems were highly associated with emotional problems (OR 2.74, 95% CI 1.84-4.13), school attendance problems (OR 2.53, 95% OR 1.45-4.41), behavioural problems (OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.59-3.75) and hyperactivity (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.30-3.13). Over 95% of severe sleep problems were reported only by the children themselves. In conclusion, children with severe sleep problems have substantially more teacher-reported psychiatric symptoms than those with no or mild sleep complaints. In diagnosing sleep disorders, it is important to include children as informants because relevant information may be overlooked when only parents are questioned.

Child↗

PubMed2001

Associations of age and gender with activity and sleep.

Associations between age/gender and activity/sleep (measured by actigraphs) in 66 healthy children aged 5-12 y were studied. With increasing age, daytime motor activity and total sleep time decreased and activity pattern changed. No gender differences were found. It was concluded that in this age group there is an age-dependent change in the amount and pattern of motor activity and sleep due to developmental and/or environmental factors.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2000

Sleep problems of school-aged children: a complementary view.

The aim of this population-based multicentre study was to evaluate the prevalence rates of sleep problems among 8-9-y-old children. The sample consisted of 5813 Finnish children, making up 10% of the age cohort. Both parents and children provided information. Disturbed sleep was reported by 21.7% of parents. Most of the problems were mild; only 0.3% were serious. Dyssomnias were frequent: 11.1% had difficulties with sleep onset, 7.1% with night waking and 2.3% with waking too early. Multiple sleep problems were present in 9.1% of the children. 17.8% of children reported disturbed sleep, 12.7% had problems many nights and 5.1% every night. In 32.0% of cases, either the parent or the child reported disturbed sleep; 7.4% of these reports came from both the parent and the child, 14.1% from the parent only and 10.3% from the child only. The correspondence between informants was poor (kappa = 0.224). Sleeping problems were associated with somatic and psychiatric problems. It is concluded that by restricting questioning to parents only, one-third of all potential cases of sleep problems may go unnoticed. In order to increase the sensitivity of screening children's sleep problems, both parents and children should provide information in epidemiological settings as well as in clinical work.

Chi-Square Distribution↗

PubMed2000

Sleep and psychiatric symptoms in school-age children.

OBJECTIVE: To assess associations between the quantity and quality of children's sleep and parent- and teacher-reported psychiatric symptoms. METHOD: Forty-nine physically healthy 7- to 12-year-old children from normal classes participated. They were monitored for 72 consecutive hours with belt-worn activity monitors (actigraphs) to obtain objective data on their daytime and nighttime activity and sleep. In addition, Child Behavior Checklists and Teacher's Report Forms were filled out by the parents and teachers, respectively. RESULTS: Quantity of sleep was significantly associated with total symptom score on the Teacher's Report Form. The highest associations were found between low true sleep time and teacher-reported externalizing symptoms such as aggressive and delinquent behavior and attention and social problems. Sleep parameters were not associated with parent-reported psychiatric symptoms, except for the association found between delayed sleep latency and aggressive, delinquent behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The objectively measured amount of school-age children's sleep was associated with teacher-reported psychiatric symptoms. Parents may be unaware of their child's sleep deficiencies as the behavioral problems may be more evident at school than at home. Sensitive and objective measurements are needed to rule out the possibility of inadequate sleep underlying behavioral problems.

Attention↗