PHYSIOLOGICAL SLEEP DISTURBANCE IN CHILDREN WITH ATOPIC-DERMATITIS - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

It is generally acknowledged that sleep disturbance commonly complicat es atopic dermatitis (AD), but the nature of this disturbance, includi ng its physiologic aspects, has been little studied, especially in chi ldren. The results of home polysomnography (PSG) were compared for 20 school-age children with AD and sex- and age-matched healthy controls. The findings provided objective confirmation of disruption of sleep b y both brief and longer awakenings associated with scratching episodes . Sleep efficiency was reduced but other sleep variables were not sign ificantly affected. Home sleep studies offer advantages for further in vestigation of the factors involved in the link between AD and sleep d isturbance, and the assessment of the contribution made by this distur bance to the daytime psychological problems of children with AD.