Physically active children with epilepsy have good objective sleep duration and efficiency despite subjective reports of fatigue and sleep problems

Publication date: March 2020Source: Epilepsy & Behavior, Volume 104, Part AAuthor(s): Jeffrey Do, Richard J. Webster, Patricia E. Longmuir, Sara Ieradi, Deepti Reddy, Sharon Whiting, Daniela PohlAbstractObjectiveThe aim of this study was to longitudinally characterize in children with epilepsy the objective and subjective sleep quality and the relationship between increased physical activity and sleep as well as measures of psychosocial well-being.MethodsBaseline physical activity and sleep were established in children with epilepsy over four weeks, prior to a 12-week exercise intervention (weekly meeting with exercise counselor). Participants continuously wore a wrist pedometer (Fitbit Flex®) to capture daily number of steps, sleep efficiency, and total sleep time. The Early Childhood Epilepsy Severity Scale (E-Chess) assessed baseline epilepsy severity. Subjective sleep quality (Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire, CSHQ), quality of life (KIDSCREEN-27; Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, PedsQL™, 4.0 Core), fatigue (PedsQL™ Multidimensional Fatigue Scale), depression (Children's Depression Inventory-Short), and anxiety (Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children) were assessed pre- and post-interventions.ResultsOur cohort of 22 children with epilepsy aged 8–14 years was similarly active to peers (11,271 ± 3189 mean steps per day) and displayed normal sleeping patterns (mean sleep efficiency: 87.4% ± 3.08 and mean total sleep time: 521 ± 30.4). Ep...
Source: Epilepsy and Behavior - Category: Neurology Source Type: research