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Children With Asperger Syndrome More Likely to Have Sleep Problems WESTCHESTER, Ill. -- November 1, 2007 -- The first known attempt to evaluate the sleep patterns of children with Asperper Syndrome (AS), taking into account sleep architecture and the cyclic alternating pattern (CAP), finds that children with AS have a high prevalence of some sleep disorders and mainly problems related to initiating sleep and sleep restlessness together with morning problems and daytime sleepiness, according to a study published in the November 1 issue of the journal SLEEP. The study, authored by Oliviero Bruni, MD, of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at University La Sapienza in Rome, Italy, focused on eight children with AS, 10 children with autism and 12 healthy control children. The parents of the children with AS filled out the following materials: · Sleep questionnaire. · Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale, which evaluates the relationship between daytime sleepiness and school-related outcomes. · Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, a semi-structured, standardized assessment of communication, social interaction and play or imaginative use of materials for individuals who have been referred because of possible autism spectrum disorders. · Child Behavior Checklist, a questionnaire used to examine daytime behavior in children. In addition, the children took the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, which measures verbal IQ, performance IQ and a full-scale IQ, and also underwent an overnight polysomnogram, or sleep study. Several sleep parameters, such as time in bed, sleep period time, number of awakenings per hour, and sleep efficiency, were evaluated. CAP, a periodic EEG activity of non-REM sleep characterized by repeated spontaneous sequences of short-lived events (phase A) with the return to background activity identifying the interval that separates the repetitive elements (phase B), was also scored. According to the results, 50% of the children with AS were reluctant to go to bed, while 75% felt a need for light or a television in the bedroom, 87% had difficulty getting to sleep at night and 75% fell asleep sweating. In addition, 50% felt unrefreshed when waking up in the morning, 87% had difficulty waking up in the morning and 87% felt sleepy during the day. With respect to the CAP, in comparison to healthy controls, subjects with AS showed a lower total CAP rate in the first two sleep stages, but not in slow wave sleep. In addition, they showed an increased%age of synchronized EEG patterns and a decreased percentage of desynchronized EEG patterns. Further, the duration of the A and B phases, and consequently the entire CAP cycle, was longer. Compared to the children with autism, AS subjects showed an increased CAP rate in slow wave sleep and a decrease in the second sleep stage. The duration of the A phases was longer, as well as the CAP cycle duration. "This study showed peculiar CAP modifications in children with AS and represented an attempt to correlate the quantification of sleep EEG oscillations with the degree of mental ability or disability," said Dr. Bruni. AS is one of several autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) characterized by difficulties in social interaction and by restricted and stereotyped interests and activities. AS is distinguished from the other ASDs in having no general delay in language or cognitive development. Although it is not mentioned in standard diagnostic criteria, there are frequent reports of motor clumsiness and atypical use of language. It is recommended that children in pre-school sleep between 11-13 hours a night, school-aged children between 10-11 hours of sleep a night, and adolescents about nine hours a night. SOURCE: American Academy of Sleep Medicine E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version