Helene Werner

Agreement Rates Between Actigraphy, Diary, and Questionnaire for Children's Sleep Patterns

OBJECTIVES To describe sleep-wake patterns in kindergarten children by measures derived from questionnaire, diary, and actigraphy and to report rates of agreement between methods according to Bland and Altman. DESIGN Cross-sectional study, data from 7 nights of actigraph recordings and sleep diary and from a questionnaire. SETTING Children studied in their homes. PARTICIPANTS Fifty children, aged 4 to 7 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Sleep start, sleep end, assumed sleep, actual sleep time, and nocturnal wake time derived from different methods. RESULTS Differences between actigraphy and diary were +/- 28 minutes for sleep start, +/- 24 minutes for sleep end, and +/- 32 minutes for assumed sleep, indicating satisfactory agreement between methods, whereas for actual sleep time and nocturnal wake time, agreement rates were not sufficient (+/- 106 minutes and +/- 55 minutes, respectively). Agreement rates between actigraphy and questionnaire as well as between diary and questionnaire were insufficient for all variables. Sex and age of children and socioeconomic status did not influence the differences between methods for all variables. CONCLUSIONS Actigraphy and diary may be interchangeably used for the assessment of sleep start, sleep end, and assumed sleep but not for nocturnal wake times. The diary is a cost-effective and valid source of information about childrens sleep-schedule times, while actigraphy may provide additional information about nocturnal wake times or may be used if parents are unable to report in detail. It is insufficient to collect information by a questionnaire or an interview asking about childrens normal sleep patterns.

Assessment of Chronotype in Four- to Eleven-Year-Old Children: Reliability and Validity of the Children's ChronoType Questionnaire (CCTQ)

Individual differences in circadian phase preference (“chronotype”) are linked to sleep schedule variability, psychosocial functioning, and specific properties of the circadian clock. While much is known about the development, distribution, and variability of chronotype in adolescents and adults, assessment in prepubertal children has been hindered by a lack of appropriate, reliable, and valid measures. This study presents a detailed description of the assessment of childrens chronotype by the Childrens ChronoType Questionnaire (CCTQ). The CCTQ is a parent-report, 27-item mixed-format questionnaire resulting in multiple measures of chronotype in 4- to 11-yr-old children: the midsleep point on free days (MSF), a morningness/eveningness scale (M/E) score, and a five-point chronotype (CT) score. The study provides validity data using actigraphy as well as test-retest reliability data for all three chronotype measures and sleep/wake parameters. Overall, the findings indicate moderate to strong agreement between the three measures, adequate associations between chronotype measures and sleep/wake parameters assessed by actigraphy, and excellent temporal stability (reliability).

Long-Term Neurodevelopmental Outcome with Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy

OBJECTIVES To determine the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome for children after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) without major disability, and to examine neonatal injury patterns detected on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in relation to later deficits. STUDY DESIGN Prospectively enrolled children with HIE and neonatal cerebral MRI data (n = 68) were examined at a mean age of 11.2 years (range, 8.2-15.7 years). Eleven children had a major disability (ie, cerebral palsy or mental retardation). Brain injury was scored according to the region and extent of injury. RESULTS Children without major disability (n = 57) had lower full-scale and performance IQ scores compared with norms (P = .02 and .01, respectively), and the proportion of children with an IQ <85 was higher than expected (P = .04). Motor performance on the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment was affected in the pure motor, adaptive fine motor, and gross motor domains, as well as in the movement quality domain (all P < .001). Watershed injury pattern on neonatal MRI correlated with full-scale and verbal IQ scores (P = .006 and <.001, respectively), but neonatal MRI pattern did not correlate with motor performance in children without major disability. CONCLUSION Children who sustained neonatal HIE without major disability are at increased risk for long-term intellectual, verbal, and motor deficits. The severity of watershed injury is correlated with later intellectual performance. Long-term follow-up examinations are necessary for early detection of neurodevelopmental impairment and early initiation of adequate therapies.

Cycled Light Exposure Reduces Fussing and Crying in Very Preterm Infants

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether cycled lighting (CL) conditions during neonatal care in very preterm infants (<32 weeks’ gestational age [GA]) decrease crying and fussing behavior, improve the consolidation of sleep, and influence activity behavior at 5 and 11 weeks’ postterm corrected age (CA) compared with preterm infants cared for in dim lighting (DL) conditions. METHODS: Thirty-seven preterm infants were randomly assigned to CL (7 am–7 pm lights on, 7 pm–7 am lights off [n = 17; mean GA: 30.6 ± 0.95 weeks; 9 girls]) or DL (lights off whenever the child is asleep [n = 20; GA: 29.5 ± 2.1 weeks; 8 girls]) conditions. Sleeping, crying, and activity behavior was recorded by using parental diaries and actigraphy at 5 and 11 weeks’ CA. RESULTS: A significant reduction of fussing (59.4 minutes/24 hours [±25.8 minutes]) and crying (31.2 minutes/24 hours [±14.4 minutes]) behavior and a trend to higher motor activity during daytime was found in CL-exposed infants at 5 and 11 weeks’ CA compared with infants cared for in DL conditions. No significant difference between groups was observed for sleep behavior at 5 and 11 weeks’ CA. Infants in CL conditions showed a trend to improved daily weight gain (average: 3.6 g/d) during neonatal care compared with DL conditions. CONCLUSIONS: CL conditions in neonatal care have beneficial effects on infant’s fussing and crying behavior and growth in the first weeks of life. This study supports the introduction of CL care in clinical neonatal practice.

Very preterm infants show earlier emergence of 24-hour sleep-wake rhythms compared to term infants.

BACKGROUND Previous studies show contradictory results about the emergence of 24-h rhythms and the influence of external time cues on sleep-wake behavior in preterm compared to term infants. AIMS To examine whether very preterm infants (<32 weeks of gestational age) differ in their emergence of the 24-h sleep-wake rhythm at 5, 11 and 25 weeks corrected age compared to term infants and whether cycled light conditions during neonatal intermediate care affects postnatal 24-h sleep-wake rhythms in preterm infants. STUDY DESIGN Prospective cohort study with nested interventional trial. SUBJECTS 34 preterm and 14 control term infants were studied. During neonatal hospitalization, preterm infants were randomly assigned to cycled light [7 am-7 pm lights on, 7 pm-7 am lights off, n=17] or dim light condition [lights off whenever the child is asleep, n=17]. OUTCOME MEASURES Sleep and activity behavior recorded by parental diary and actigraphy at 5, 11 and 25 weeks corrected age. RESULTS Sleep at nighttime and the longest consolidated sleep period between 12 pm-6 am was longer (mixed model analysis, factor group: p=0.02, resp. p=0.01) and activity at nighttime was lower (p=0.005) at all ages in preterm compared to term infants. Cycled light exposed preterm infants showed the longest nighttime sleep duration. Dim light exposed preterm infants were the least active. CONCLUSIONS Preterm infants show an earlier emergence of the 24-h sleep-wake rhythm compared to term infants. Thus, the length of exposure to external time cues such as light may be important for the maturation of infant sleep-wake rhythms. Trial registry number: This trial has been registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (identifier NCT01513226).

The Zurich 3-step concept for the management of behavioral sleep disorders in children: a before-and-after study.

OBJECTIVES Several strategies have been found to be effective for the treatment of childhood behavioral sleep disorders. One which has yet to be evaluated is the Zurich 3-step concept, which combines basic notions of the two-process model of sleep regulation (introducing a regular rhythm and adjusting bedtime to sleep need) with behavioral strategies. This uncontrolled before-and-after study describes our concept and its step-wise approach, assesses changes in sleep-wake variables and behavior problems, and also examines associations between changes in sleep-wake variables and behavior problems. METHODS A total of 79 children with sleep problems (age range 6-47 months, 42% females) were included. Sleep problems were assessed by the Infant Sleep Questionnaire, sleep-wake variables by diary and actigraphy, and behavior problems of children ≥ 18 months by the Child Behavior Checklist. RESULTS A significant decrease in nocturnal wake duration (Cohens d = -0.34) and a significant increase in the duration of the longest continuous nocturnal sleep period (Cohens d = 0.19) were found from before to after intervention (on average 2.7 months, SD 1.5). The variability for sleep onset and end time decreased, and actigraphically measured circadian rest-activity cycle measures improved. Parent-reported internalizing and total behavior problems also decreased (Cohens d = 0.66). CONCLUSIONS The findings of both objective and subjective assessment techniques suggest that the Zurich 3-step concept is effective. Thus, the intervention concept may be useful in clinical practice with sleep-disordered children.

Development of neuromotor functions in very low birth weight children from six to 10 years of age: patterns of change

To assess patterns of change for different neuromotor functions in very low birth weight (VLBW) children during school age and to identify factors associated with improvement.

Changes in health-related quality of life over a 1-year follow-up period in children with inflammatory bowel disease.

PurposeLittle is known about disease-specific health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) changes over time in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and about their associations with baseline medical characteristics.MethodsIn this study, 153 paediatric patients with IBD from the multicentre prospective Swiss IBD cohort study were included at baseline. Of these, 90 patients were analysed at a 1-year follow-up. Medical data were extracted from hospital records, while HRQoL data were measured using the standardized, self-report disease-specific IMPACT-III questionnaire.ResultsThe IBD diagnosis of the included children was made an average of 2.0 years before their baseline assessment. Over the 1-year follow-up period, a significant increase in overall HRQoL and in the HRQoL domain ‘physical functioning’ was evident. On multivariate analysis, overall HRQoL changes over time were predicted by baseline HRQoL, baseline disease activity, and disease activity changes over time. HRQoL improvements were significantly associated with decreases in physician-assessed disease activity. Children reporting a low baseline HRQoL and children with inactive or mildly-active disease experienced greater improvements.ConclusionsChildren with more severe baseline disease activity had the greatest risk for HRQoL deterioration over the 1-year follow-up period. However, among possible factors that might influence HRQoL changes over time, the child’s medical characteristics explained only a small proportion of their variability in our sample. We, therefore, recommend that researchers and clinicians focus on factors that are not incorporated within the multidimensional HRQoL concept if they seek to gain better insights into factors that influence HRQoL changes over time in children with IBD.

Schlafphysiologie bei Kindern und deren Bedeutung für die Behandlung von nicht-organischen Schlafstörungen

Sleep problems are among the most frequent behavioural issues during childhood. This article highlights some of the most important aspects of childrens sleep physiology and presents a clinical approach for the management of behavioural sleep disorders in children. Our concept is based on developmental aspects of sleep physiology and also uses behavioural strategies for the parents and their child to handle maladaptive sleep behaviour.

Erratum to: Health-related quality of life and mental health in parents of children with hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Background Little is known about health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental health of parents having children with a history of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).