Abstract
This study determined whether common symptoms of sleep disorders were more prevalent
in children with cerebral palsy (CP), epilepsy, and with CP comorbid with epilepsy.
The pediatric sleep questionnaire was administered to the guardians of healthy control
children (n = 69), children with CP (n = 23), epilepsy (n = 106), and CP comorbid with epilepsy (n = 29). Scores on symptoms of sleep disordered breathing, insomnia, and excessive
daytime sleepiness were analyzed separately and compared among the groups using Kruskal-Wallis
analysis of variance by ranks. In comparison to controls, the CP group had a significantly
higher prevalence of sleep disordered breathing, insomnia, and excessive daytime sleepiness,
and the CP comorbid with epilepsy group exhibited significantly higher prevalence
of sleep disordered breathing and insomnia. The epilepsy group showed significantly
higher prevalence of sleep disordered breathing than controls. The sleep complaints
were more common in this cohort of children with CP and/or epilepsy that deserve clinical
attention for proper diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.
Keywords
Cerebral palsy - epilepsy - insomnia - sleep disordered breathing - excessive daytime
sleepiness
