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Erschienen in:
02.11.2021 | Original studies
Sleep disorders in elementary school children with childhood apraxia of speech
Erschienen in: Somnologie | Ausgabe 1/2022
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Background
Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is likely to be associated with comorbid conditions, including sleep disturbances.
Aim
This study aimed to evaluate sleep disturbances in elementary school children with diagnosed CAS.
Patients and methods
The study was performed in St. Petersburg in 2019 and comprised 6–7-year-old elementary school children (7 girls, 19 boys) from the community setting with a diagnosis of CAS who attended special speech–language correction classes. The control group was made up of 26 healthy children matched to cases for age, sex, and geographic distribution. The mothers were requested to fill in the Child Sleep Habit Questionnaire (CSHQ) to measure certain sleep troubles in children. The speech–language pathologists working with the CAS children in special classes were approached with the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Checklist (CASC).
Results
The CAS children had more sleep problems, most of which were related to sleep anxiety. They were often afraid of sleeping alone, in the dark, and away, and were more often alarmed by scary dreams. They scored statistically significantly higher in the CSHQ sleep anxiety subscore. The CAS children had more common signs of excessive daytime sleepiness, including difficulty getting out of bed, needing more time to become alert, and looking tired during the daytime. They had shorter sleep duration, more frequent night wakings, and signs of parasomnias. These associations remained significant after adjustments for multiple comparisons and the potential influence of confounding and modifying factors.
Conclusion
Sleep disturbances, especially sleep anxiety and daytime sleepiness, should be regarded cautiously as possible indicators of coexistent sleep and speech disturbances.