Parental survey of the sleep patterns and screen time in US school children during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic

BMC Pediatrics

Research Article

Alberto Monegro¹  Geovanny Perez²  Amanda B. Hassinger² 

[1] Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, NY, USA;Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 1001 Main Street, 5Th Floor, 14203, Buffalo, NY, USA;

关键词: Sleep;    Pandemic;    Children;    Sleep patterns;    School closures;    Screen time;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12887-023-03875-9

 received in 2022-02-09, accepted in 2023-01-27,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThis study compared sleep duration, screen exposure and sleep quality in school-aged children before COVID-19 to that during school closures and again when schools re-opened in fall 2020.MethodsCross-sectional anonymous, online survey of parents of children 5–13 years old. Questions elicited information about sleep timing and quality, screen time, and schooling at three distinct periods: before the pandemic, when schools first closed and then re-opened in the fall.ResultsRespondents described 101 children who were an average of 8.5 years old and 51% male. In lockdown, children slept 25 min more (95%CI 00:13–00:38) due to later wake times (75 min, 95% CI 0:57–1:34) with later bedtimes (29 min, 95%CI 0:00–0:58). When schools re-opened, sleep duration returned to pre-pandemic levels, but sleep onset and offset times remained later. Despite more sleep, sleep quality and habits (e.g. bedtime refusal) worsened during lockdown and did not normalize in fall 2020. During lockdown, screen time increased in 65% of all children, and 96% of those in private schools. When schools reopened, 78% of children in hybrid/virtual learning had more than 4 h of screen exposure daily. Less screen time was associated with twofold higher odds of better sleep (OR 2.66, 95%CI 1.15–6.14).ConclusionsAlthough school-aged children had more total sleep when schools were closed, sleep quality and habits worsened. Upon return to school, sleep times and quality did not normalize and were linked to screen time.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

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