Application of the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) in preschool age

作者：Romeo Domenico M; Bruni Oliviero^*; Brogna Claudia; Ferri Raffaele; Galluccio Carmen; De Clemente Valentina; Di Jorio Monica; Quintiliani Michela; Ricci Daniela; Mercuri Eugenio

来源：European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 2013, 17(4): 374-382.

DOI：10.1016/j.ejpn.2012.12.009

• Sleep
• Questionnaire
• Sleep disorders
• Preschool
• Children

Background: The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) was originally validated on a sample of healthy children aged 6-16 years, investigating the occurrence of sleep disorders during the previous 6 months. %26lt;br%26gt;Aims: The aim of this new study was to assess the psychometric properties of the SDSC in an Italian population of preschool children. %26lt;br%26gt;Methods: The SDSC was distributed to the primary caregivers of children recruited via nurseries. Letters describing the study design and requesting the co-operation of the caregivers (parents) and co-signed by the investigators and by the head teacher were distributed with the questionnaire and collected by the teachers. Reliability analysis for evaluating internal consistency and item-total correlation coefficients, and factor analysis were performed. %26lt;br%26gt;Results: During a 12-months study period, 601 questionnaires from healthy preschool age children (range 3-6 years) were collected. SDSC in preschool children showed a good level of internal consistency (Cronbach%26apos;s alpha: 0.83) and six factors were derived from the factor analysis by using the principal component method of extraction and rotated with the varimax method: Parasomnias, Difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep, Sleep disordered breathing, Disorders of excessive somnolence, Sleep hyperhydrosis and Non-restorative Sleep. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions: The statistical analysis, the internal consistency and the factor analysis support the use of SDSC as an evaluation tool even at preschool age. A different factorial structure from the original SDSC was found due to a different prevalence of the sleep disturbances in younger children, but with similar cut-off total SDSC score.

• 出版日期2013-7