Correlation between sleep and quality of life in cerebral palsy

PURPOSE: To investigate and correlate the sleep pattern and quality of life in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) compared to healthy controls. METHODS: Seventy-eight subjects (aged 4-18 years, both genders) comprised two groups: CP, composed of 43 individuals with CP, and control, composed of 35 individuals without neurodevelopmental disorders. General Sleep Habits Questionnaire, Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children, sleep diary, Child Health Questionnaire, and Children's Quality of Life Scale were used. RESULTS: This study identified that 60.5% individuals with CP had sleep disorders. The respiratory disorders (25.6%) and the sleep hyperhidrosis (34.9%) were the most common disturbances in the group with CP. Moreover, 23.2% individuals of the group with CP reported awaking in the middle of the night and 37.2% of them snore, both percentages were higher than those in the control group. The sleep diary showed that individuals in the group with CP spend more time to initiate sleep (around 21 minutes). The group with CP also showed deficits in all parameters analyzed by the Child Health Questionnaire, except in family activity and the sleep-wake pattern, and quality of life showed negative correlation in several respects. CONCLUSION: The altered pattern of sleep in individuals with CP directly affects their physical and emotional well-being.