title: Validation of the sleep disturbance scale for children and prevalence of parent-reported sleep disorder symptoms in Chinese children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To translate and validate the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC), a promising questionnaire for use among children in epidemiological studies, in Chinese children.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 3525 children aged 5-16 years were randomly selected from five primary schools in Shenyang. Internal consistency, reliability and factor analyses were undertaken to assess the construct validity of the SDSC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Internal consistency indicated adequate reliability (Cronbach's α=0.81). Factor analytic results indicated a six-factor solution (ie, six types of sleep disorder) based on parent-reported sleep disorder symptoms. The mean total score of the SDSC was 39.28±7.83 and 156 (4.43%) children were identified as suffering from parent-reported sleep disorder. The prevalence for each sleep type disorder ranged from 3.46% to 6.30% with the highest for sleep hyperhidrosis (SHY) and the lowest for disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep. Significant differences were found between boys and girls in the prevalence of sleep breathing disorders (6.51% vs. 3.72%), SHY (8.62% vs. 4.00%) and parent-reported sleep disorders (5.19% vs. 3.67%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SDSC is reliable and useful in screening for parent-reported sleep disorders in Chinese children. Compared with other countries, parent-reported sleep disorders among Chinese elementary school children were at a relatively low level of prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Mei-Meng
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Zhengmin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, College of Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yungling Leo
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, China; Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: donggh5@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guang-Hui
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Chinese; Elementary school children; Factor analyses; Internal consistency reliability; Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children; Sleep disorder