1- Médico Interno da Especialidade de Pedopsiquiatria, Área da Mulher, Criança e Adolescente, Hospital Dona Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central, Lisboa.
2- Assistente Hospitalar da Especialidade de Pedopsiquiatria, Área da Mulher, Criança e Adolescente, Hospital Dona Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central, Lisboa.
- Reunião internacional: póster apresentado no 18th International Congress of European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Viena, Áustria.
Introdução: Sleep is a vital physiological function and is known to be crucial to physical and mental health in children. Sleep disorders are frequently undervalued complaints in children and large epidemiological studies have found that about 30% of children suffer from sleep problems. Despite the importance of sleep in the neurobehavioral development of children, little is known about the prevalence of sleep problems in children with emotional and behavioural disturbances.
Objetivos: To study the prevalence of sleep disorders in a population of children aged 3-10 years old attended in a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry unit in Lisbon, Portugal.
Métodos: Children ́s Sleep Habits Questionnaire validated for the Portuguese population (CSHQ-PT) was applied to parents of children aged 3-10 years old during their first doctor ́s appointment in a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit (Lisbon) from November 2018 to April 2019. A cutoff of 48 for the total sleep disorder index was used.
Resultados: In a total of 50 valid questionnaires (79,4%), the mean sleep disorder score was 53, with 60% of children being above cutoff, higher than described in a Portuguese community sample where the mean sleep disorder score was 47. This finding suggests a higher prevalence of problematic sleep behaviour in our clinical sample comparing to a Portuguese community sample. Subjective parents perception about children`s sleep behaviour seems be in accordance with the sleep disorder score.
Conclusões: There is growing evidence indicating a relationship between sleep quality and emotional problems in children and adolescents. Furthermore, the presence of sleep disturbances at a young age appears to predict subsequent emotional or behavioural problems during mid-adolescence, thereby emphasizing the need for assessment of sleep factors as potential modifiers of the risk for psychopathology.
Palavras Chave: Children Sleep Habits Questionnaire; Mental Health; Sleep Habits; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry;