Magnitude and influencing factors of parasomnia in schoolchildren

Choudhury Habibur Rasul; Khan Golam Mostafa; Nitya Nanda Baruri; Jakia Sultana

doi:10.14238/pi53.6.2013.339-45

Choudhury Habibur Rasul Department of Paediatrics, Khulna Medical College & Hospital
Khan Golam Mostafa Department of Paediatrics, Khulna Medical College & Hospital
Nitya Nanda Baruri Department of Paediatrics, Khulna Medical College & Hospital
Jakia Sultana Department of Paediatrics, Khulna Medical College & Hospital

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14238/pi53.6.2013.339-45

Keywords: parasomnia, predisposing factors, perinatal fac tors, socioeconomic factors

Abstract

Background Parasomnias are undesirable events occurring in
the sleep-wake transition period. Several predisposing factors are
reported to induce parasomnia in preschool children.
Objective To es timate the magnitude of parasomnia in school
children and to evaluate its relationship with possible predisposing
factors .
Methods Five hundred children aged 5- 16 years from a boys'
school and a girls' school in Khulna City, Ban gladesh, were
randomly selected for the study conducted fromJuly to December
2011. The survey was don e in two steps: self-administered
questionnaire and clinical interviews of affected students and
their parents. Apart from demographic features, questionnaires
included details of perinatal and personal fac tors as well as
familial and socioeconomic factors . The diagnoses of variants
of parasomnias was based on the criteria for category-based
classification by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Results Seven hundred thir teen filled questionnaires revealed
parasomnia in 187 (26.2%) children. Most parasomnias were
accompanied by other sleep disorders, in which 23 (12.3%) having
primary dyssomnias including 18 (9.3%) obstructive sleep apnea,
and 10 (5.3%) parasomnias with hypersomnias . Nightmares
(7. 4%) were highest among the parasomnias fo llowed by nocturnal
enuresis (4.1 %) and sleep terrors (3 .4%). More girls experienced
parasomnias than boys (107 /360 vs . 80/353, respectively;
P= 0.039) . Perinatal factors such as problems during pregnancy
(17 .1 %) or eventful delivery (25. 7%), and socioeconomic factors
such as familial disharmony (11.8%) and low socioeconomiclevel
(3 1.6%) had positive associations with parasomnia.
Conclusion One-quarter of school children experience parasomnia.
We found perinatal factors particularly problem during
pregnancy, and socioeconomic factors particularly familial
disharmony have significant influences on this condition.

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