0852 Self-help Strategies for Sleep in Children and Adolescents with Epilepsy

Introduction Children and adolescents with epilepsy have more sleep problems compared to their healthy peers. These sleep problems not only negatively impact development and quality of life, but also pose challenges in managing epilepsy effectively. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the use of self-help strategies for sleep among children and adolescents with epilepsy and examine the association between these strategies and sleep. Methods Seventy-five children and adolescents with epilepsy aged 1 to 17 years (mean age: 10.29 years) were recruited from a university-affiliated hospital between July 2022 and November 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan. They wore an actigraph on their wrist for a week, while their parents concurrently completed a sleep diary to document the utilization of any self-help strategies for sleep during the same period. Parent-reported sleep in children and adolescents was obtained using the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Data were analyzed using independent samples t-test. Results Of all the participants, only 17 (22.7%) children and adolescents had a nighttime sleep efficiency greater than 85%. The average total score of the CSHQ was 52.31±7.46, indicating moderate to severe sleep disturbance. Thirty-one (41.3%) parents reported using self-help strategies to help their children and adolescents sleep. These strategies included listening to music or stories (n = 14, 18.7%), reading books (n = 13, 17.3%), accompany (n = 6, 8%), using relaxation techniques (n = 2, 2.7%), feeding (n = 2, 2.7%), and giving teething toys (n = 2, 2.7%). There were no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) in sleep efficiency and CSHQ scores between children and adolescents who used self-help strategies for sleep and those who did not. Conclusion Many children and adolescents with epilepsy experience sleep disturbance and poor sleep quality, with a significant proportion attempting to use self-help strategies to improve their sleep. Our findings highlight the importance of managing sleep in this population and suggest the need for further exploration into the effectiveness of specific self-help strategies for sleep in children and adolescents with epilepsy. Support (if any) This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan, NSTC 112-2628-B-002-003.