Children with TBI have poorer sleep quality and more daytime sleepiness

A new study suggests that children with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have poorer sleep and more daytime sleepiness in comparison to healthy children.

Results show that children with TBI were more likely to experience greater daytime sleepiness, sleep disturbances and a poorer overall sleep quality. The children with TBI also had impaired emotional, physical and social functioning when compared to healthy children.

"We were surprised that children with a TBI experienced persistent increases in daytime sleepiness and decreases in sleep quality compared to healthy children," said principal investigator Kimberly Allen, PhD, RN, assistant professor, Center for Narcolepsy, Sleep and Health Research, Department of Women Children and Family Health Science, at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented Monday, June 8, in Seattle, Washington, at SLEEP 2015, the 29th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

The study group comprised 15 children with TBI and 15 healthy children, matched on age, race and maternal education level. Parents of children with TBI and parents of health children completed three surveys related to their child's sleep behaviors and sleep quality: Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), Child Sleep Wake Scale (CSWS), and the modified Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).