Prevalence and pattern of sleep disorder among children with neurological diseases in University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

Background: Sleep disorders significantly affect the quality of live and may impair cognitive development. Sleep disorders are reported to be common in children with neurological diseases. However no report has evaluated the prevalence of sleep disorders among children chronic neurological diseases in Nigeria. This study therefore sort to determine the prevalence and types of sleep disorders among children with neurological diseases seen Child neurology clinic of University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City. Subjects and methods: This was a questionnaire based cross sectional study. Parents/caregivers of children attending the Child Neurology Clinic of UBTH were recruited and a structured questionnaire was administered to evaluate the presence of sleep disorders in the children they have brought to the clinic. Response scale ranged from never, rarely, occasional, frequent and very frequent. Children were judged to have sleep disorder if the symptom were present frequently or very frequently. Variables were aggregated as simple proportions and differences determine using chi-square test. Results: One hundred and fifty children aged 17years and below consisting of 98 (65.3%) males and 52 (34.7%) were evaluated. The most common sleep disorders found include restlessness during sleep 68.7%, frequent awakening 66.0%, snoring 57.3%, excessive day time sleepiness 53.3% and sleep walking among others. Sleep disorders were more common in boys than in girls and those aged 5 years and below than older children. Conclusion: Sleep disorders are very common among children with neurological diseases. These problems have great potential of further impairing cognitive development and quality of life in these children.