Sleep Ecology and Behavior of Minority Children Living on the South Side of Chicago

Thomas Britt1, Ivonne Anguh1, Odochi Nwabara1, Karen Spruyt2

1 Chicago State University, Department of Health Studies 2 University of Chicago, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Sleep Medicine

Introduction: Children's sleep occurs in the cultural context within the family, however little is known regarding altered sleep patterns in minority children. Living conditions, family schedules, and diets contribute to adverse affects on children's sleep. Poor sleep has been associated with adverse behavioral, cognitive and unhealthy outcomes.

Methods: A pilot study utilizing a de-identified questionnaire was randomly distributed on Chicago's south side. The questionnaire surveys the sleep environment of children, sleep- wake schedules and sleep behaviors. Descriptive analyses were conducted on the preliminary data (n=27).

Results: There were 84% African American, 12% mixed ethnicity and 4% African. Ages ranged from 20 to 58 years. Average household size was 4. The gender of children was fairly equally distributed. Ages ranged from 1 to 14 years. 48% of the children did not have their own room and bed; 42.9% shared bed with mom; some slept with siblings. The average child went to bed during the week at 8:53 pm and woke-up at 6:51 am; the weekend bedtime was 10:25 pm and wake-up time, 8:25AM. The most commonly reported problem was falling sleep.

Conclusion: Pilot data suggests that children living on the South Side of Chicago have poor sleep-wake patterns. More data collection is in progress to better describe altered sleep patterns.