A Study on Effect of Sleep Training Program in Children with ADHD: A Comparative Prospective Study

Abstract

To study complementary effect of sleep training program in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) receiving tablet methylphenidate with respect to sleep, quality of life (social, behavioral, emotional, and executive functioning of children), and their parent’s emotional state. It was a comparative and prospective study, and it was conducted in child mental health services of a tertiary care municipal hospital. The children (age 8−12 years) were diagnosed with ADHD using DSM 5 criteria. The children’s sleep habit questionnaire (CSHQ) and Kiddie-SADS-PL questionnaire (K-SADS-PL) were used to select 100 consecutive participants (parent–child dyad). They were randomly equally divided into two groups: A and B. Semi-structured proforma was filled and different scales were applied for children; these scales include Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PQLI), Stroop test (ST) and Verbal fluency test (VFT), and to parent-Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). The participants in group A received a validated sleep intervention and the scales were reapplied after 12 weeks. We used Chi-square test, paired t-test, unpaired t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman’s correlation test, and logistic regression analysis for data analysis. p-Value <.05 was taken as significant. SPSS version 20 software was used for data analysis. We found significant post-intervention improvement in sleep, quality of life, social, emotional, behavioral, and executive functioning in children and emotional factors in parents. The combination of sleep intervention and tablet methylphenidate were more effective in improving these factors.