Sleep and quality of life in children with cerebral palsy

ObjectiveTo examine the associations between sleep problems and quality of life (QoL) in children with cerebral palsy (CP).MethodsProspective correlational study using parent-report forms to measure QoL and sleep disorder symptoms. Two groups comprised of 41 children with CP and 91 typically developing (TD) controls age 8–12 years participated in a prospective correlational study.ResultsMeasures were the PedsQL-4.0 Generic scales and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire, with subscales of interest including sleep disordered breathing (SDB), excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), insomnia (INS) and snoring (SNOR). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that EDS contributed unique variance in physical QoL, and INS contributed unique variance in psychosocial QoL in children with CP; for TD children, sleep disorder symptoms were infrequent and not associated with physical or psychosocial QoL.ConclusionsFindings highlight the importance of assessing sleep difficulties when addressing the needs of children with CP.