Prevalence of Sleep Disorders among Children in Elementary Schools in Kirkuk City

Background and aim: the purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence rates of several symptoms of sleep disorders in young children, and the relationship between symptoms of pediatric sleep disorders and other childhood problems. Materials and method: a descriptive correlation study design , subjects consist of (600) pupils divided in to 310 male and 290 female, aged 6 to 12 years, The data were collected from 20 Kirkuk elementary schools during a period of five months extending from December, 4th , 2011 to May, 6th , 2012 . The data had been collected through the use of the developmental questionnaire and the interview technique with the family of pupils in the school. Reliability and validity of questionnaire were determined by performance of a pilot study. Data were analyzed through the application of descriptive statistics (percentage, ANOVA and mean) and inferential statistic analysis (correlation coefficient and chi-Square test). Children who rated as high risk for having sleep disorder displayed more sleep behaviour and waking during the night. Results: It was found that (25%) of children were at high risk for having at least one type of sleep disorder. Conclusions: High rates of sleep disorder symptoms were observed across all disorder categories, particularly in Excessive daytime sleepiness and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome. This indicates that the symptoms of sleep disorders are already apparent even at sample (6 – 12) years old. Keywords: Prevalence, Children, Sleep Disorder.