DISTURBED SLEEP - EFFECTS OF SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS AND ILLNESS

To assess the prevalence of sleep disturbance and associated risk fact ors, sleep patterns were analysed in 14 372 English and Scottish child ren. Approximately 4% of children aged 5 experienced disturbed sleep m ore than once a week, but this decreased to 1% from age 9. Less than 2 5% of the parents with an affected child consulted a doctor. Sleep dis turbance was associated with persistent wheezing compared to non-wheez ing children (odds ratio 4.42; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.17 to 6. 13), and more frequent in children of Indian subcontinent descent than in white children (odds ratio 2.20; 95% CI 1.34 to 3.60), and in chil dren whose mother reached no more than primary education compared with those with higher education (odds ratio 2.41; 95% CI 1.51 to 3.84). S ociocultural factors associated with ethnicity and respiratory illness are important risk factors for sleeping disorders in childhood.