Study of sleep problems and their association with scholastic performance in school going children

Abstract

Background: Sleep is an integral part of any healthy individual and sleep problems can affect the intellectual abilities including the performance at school. Objectives: We studied the sleep problems among school going children in the age group of 6-16 years and the association of the sleep problems with scholastic performance in them. Materials and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study carried out in students attending a private school. The children were given a questionnaire based on the “BEARS” screening tool for sleep problems in children to be filled by children and parents. Accordingly, the age and academic grades of students were recorded. The prevalence of sleep problems and their relation to school grades were studied. Results: Out of 229 students, 25.33% (58) students were found to have sleep problems after applying the “BEARS” criteria. Of these 58 children, 31 scored A grade, 25 scored B grade, and 2 scored C grade. 23% (31 out of 135) of A graders were found to have sleeping problems, 28% (25 out of 89) of B graders, and 40% (2 out of 5) of C graders had sleeping problems. Conclusion: Sleep problems were common in school going children. It was observed
that as scholastic grades decreased, the prevalence of sleeping problems increased. Sleep problems might be one of the contributors for poor scholastic achievements in children.