Prevalence and predictors of significant sleep disturbances in children undergoing ambulatory tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate children's sleep patterns before and after ambulatory surgery and to identify predictors of sleep decrements following surgery.


METHODS
Participants were 55, 6- to 12-year-old children undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Sleep was assessed using actigraphy for 5 nights prior to and 5 nights following surgery. Parent state and trait anxiety, and child perioperative anxiety and temperament were assessed. Data on postoperative pain and use of analgesics were collected.


RESULTS
Children had significantly less efficient sleep following surgery than before surgery. Approximately one-third of children demonstrated clinically significant decrements in sleep efficiency. Discriminant function analysis indicated less sociable and more anxious children were more likely to experience these sleep decrements, as were children who experienced greater pain in the postoperative period.


CONCLUSIONS
Children's sleep is an important consideration in recovery from surgery and this article takes a first step toward identifying predictors of the development of clinically significant sleep disruptions following surgery.
MacLaren
Jill E
JE
Department of Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. jill.maclaren@yale.edu
Kain
Zeev N
ZN
D000233:Adenoidectomy / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*