title: Quality of sleep in allergic children and their parents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Quality of sleep is essential for physical and mental health and influences the perception of the patient's well-being during the day. In patients with chronic allergic diseases sleep disorders may increase the severity of the condition, complicate the management and impair their quality of life. When children are concerned, their parents are also affected by the problem. We evaluated the presence of disrupted sleep in parents of children with atopic disorders, and its relationship with clinical features and the presence of disturbed sleep in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents of children suffering from allergic diseases were recruited from the Pediatric Allergy Units of Parma University. Evaluation of sleep in parents was based on the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), while in children it was based on the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 102 parents invited, 92 filled in the questionnaire. Only the questionnaires with more than a 95% completion rate were considered for analysis. PSQI mean score in parents was 6.6 (SD 2.6); 75.6% of them had a PSQI ≥ 5, indicating that most parents had a sleep quality perceived as bad. The PSQI ≥ 5 was more common in parents of children with asthma and rhinitis. In children, SDSC mean score was 42.1 (SD: 9.4); 62.3% had a total score ≥ 39. The quality of sleep in parents and children was significantly correlated (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings make it apparent that an alteration of sleep in children can also affect the parents. Such effect further weighs the burden of respiratory allergy and needs to be considered in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma 43100, Italy. Electronic address: erminia.ridolo@unipr.it.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ridolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma 43100, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caffarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma 43100, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma 43100, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montagni
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit, ICP Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Incorvaia
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Diseases Clinic, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa 16132, Italy.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baiardini
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Diseases Clinic, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa 16132, Italy.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Canonica
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D011788:Quality of Life; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Atopic diseases; Children; Parents; Sleep disorders