The Prevalence of Sleep Disorders and the Related Factors in Iranian Preschool Children

 The prevalence of sleep disorders is different in international studies. Sleep disorders are among the most prevalent disorders among children. Various factors are involved in the pathogenesis of these disorders. The present study was conducted with the aim to determine the prevalence of sleep disorders and the related factors in Iranian preschool children.

 This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 children of 3-6 years of age in Isfahan, Iran, in 2020. The statistical population consisted of 17000 children in kindergartens under the supervision of the Isfahan Welfare Organization. Using Krejcie and Morgan’s table, the children were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling. The data were collected by the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) completed by mothers. The data were analyzed using Pearson and Spearman correlation, and multiple regression analysis in SPSS software.

 The results revealed that 19.01% of children (n = 37) had disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS)‎, 7.29% of children (n = 28) had sleep breathing disorders, 22.3% of them (n = 86) had sleep-wake transition disorders (SWTD), 23.1% of children (n = 89) had disorders of excessive somnolence (DOES), 16.9% of children (n = 65) had sleep hyperhidrosis, and 19.01% of them (n = 73) had sleep disorders or disorders of arousal nightmares in some cases. Regression analysis also showed that the incidence of sleep disorders was significantly related to gender and fathers’ level of education, i.e., 1.1% of variations in children’s sleep disorders were explained by gender (P < 0.05), and 3.1% of the variations was explained by fathers’ level of education (P < 0.001).

 The high prevalence of sleep problems among children necessitates informing parents and healthcare providers about the importance of healthy sleep patterns.