Night noise guidelines for Europe - WHO/Europe - World Health ...

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SLEEP AND HEALTH
ents’ reports, suggesting that parents may be unaware of their child’s sleep deficiencies
as the behavioural problems may be more evident at school than at home
(Aronen et al., 2000).
A prospective long-term study conducted in Sweden on 2518 children revealed that within
a subgroup of 27 children with severe and chronic sleep problems, 7 children developed
symptoms that met the criteria for ADHD by the age of 5.5 years (Thunström, 2002).
Compared to the other children with sleep problems, these subjects had more frequent
psychosocial problems in the family, bedtime struggles and long sleep latency at bedtime.
A population-based, cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in
Massachusetts on 30 195 children aged 5 years (Gottlieb et al., 2003). Children
described by their parents as having sleep-disordered breathing (snoring, noisy
breathing, apnoea) were significantly more likely to have daytime sleepiness and
problem behaviours, including hyperactivity, inattention and aggressiveness (all with
an odds ratio >2.0). These problem behaviours were suggestive of ADHD.
Similar findings were found in a group of children aged 5–7 years with periodic limb
movement disorder who were studied polygraphically and their recording compared
with those of age-matched children with ADHD. Their repeated sleep fragmentation
resulting from the periodic limb movement disorder favoured the development of
symptoms similar to those seen in ADHD (Crabtree et al., 2003).
The parents of a group of children with an average age of 8.6 years (range 2–17
years) reported that their children had difficult behaviours on the day that followed
a 4-hour night-time sleep restriction (Wassmer et al., 1999). In one study, a 2-hour
sleep reduction induced by delayed bedtime has been shown to increase daytime
sleepiness, mainly during morning hours (Ishihara and Miyke, 1998; Ishihara,
1999).
Following one night of 4 hours of sleep deprivation imposed on children (aged
11–13 years), a decrease in performance tests has been observed (Carskadon, Harvey
and Dement, 1981a).
Following one night’s sleep loss, adolescents showed increased sleepiness, fatigue
and reaction time. They selected less difficult academic tasks during a set of tests, but
the percentages of correct responses were comparable to those seen following a normal
night’s sleep (Engle-Friedman et al., 2003).
Another study has been conducted on 82 children, aged 8–15 years. They were
assigned an optimized, 10-hour night of sleep, or a restricted 4-hour night of sleep.
Sleep restriction was associated with shorter daytime sleep latency, increased subjective
sleepiness, and increased sleepy and inattentive behaviours, but was not associated
with increased hyperactive-impulsive behaviour or impaired performance in
tests of response inhibition and sustained attention (Fallone et al., 2001).
2.3.1.8 Mental health
A recent longitudinal study on the outcomes of early life sleep problems and their
relation to behaviour problems in early childhood stressed the importance of studying
the natural history of sleep problems and their consequences in order to identify
whether persistent or recurrent sleep problems at age 3–4 years are associated with
co-morbidities such as child behaviour problems, maternal depression and poor family
functioning (Peiyoong, Hiscock and Wake, 2003).
NIGHT NOISE GUIDELINES FOR EUROPE