Impact of an Intervention Aimed at Improving Sleep Quality in Hospitalized Children

Abstract

Background: Hospitalized children need adequate sleep to favor early recovery.

Methods: To study the sleep pattern of children admitted to a pediatric inpatient unit, a cross-sectional study was carried out at a reference hospital in northern Spain. The main study variables were medical specialty of admission, sleep-inducing treatment, hours of sleep at home and during admission, number of nocturnal awakenings, and reasons for awakening. Differences in the hours of sleep and nighttime awakenings between the initial period and at six months were calculated using the Student's t-test.

Results: We included 100 baseline patients and 100 post-intervention patients. Up to 4% of the baseline sample and 3% of the six-month sample had been prescribed a sleep-promoting drug. Regarding awakenings, 79% of the children in the baseline sample suffered awakenings, with a mean of 1.98 awakenings (range 1-13). At six months, the percentage of children who experienced awakenings decreased by 17%, with a mean of 1.34 (range 1-5). In the baseline sample, 48% were caused by nursing care, decreasing to 34% after the intervention.

Conclusions: An educational intervention with the implementation of targeted evidence-based practices is a useful measure for improving the sleep pattern by decreasing the number of awakenings.

Keywords: hospitalization; pediatrics; sleep; sleep deprivation; sleep hygiene.