Written By: IJCP Editorial Team

Published On: 21 Aug, 2025 4:19 PM | Updated On: 22 Aug, 2025 11:06 PM

Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Health-Related Quality of Life in Children

Does sleep deprivation affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of healthy children? To address this question, researchers from the University of Otago (New Zealand) and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (USA) conducted a secondary analysis of the Daily Rest, Eating, and Activity Monitoring (DREAM) trial.

The study included 100 healthy children aged 8–12 years (mean age, 10.3 years) in New Zealand, all of whom typically slept 8–11 hours per night as reported by parents/guardians. In a randomized crossover design, children followed two interventions:

• Sleep restriction: bedtime delayed by 1 hour for one week.
• Sleep extension: bedtime advanced by 1 hour for one week.

Wake times were kept constant across both conditions, separated by a 1-week washout.

Assessments:

• Sleep duration: 7-night actigraphy.
• Sleep quality: PROMIS 8-item Pediatric Sleep Disturbance and Sleep-Related Impairment scales.
• HRQoL: 27-item KIDSCREEN questionnaire.

Key Findings:

• During sleep restriction, children went to bed 64 minutes later and woke 18 minutes later, resulting in 39 minutes less total sleep per night compared with sleep extension.
• Despite fewer nighttime disturbances reported, greater daytime impairment was observed during sleep restriction.
• Children reported a significant decline in physical well-being and overall HRQoL scores, along with reduced ability to cope at school.
• These changes occurred after just one week of modest sleep deprivation.

Conclusion: Even a small reduction in nightly sleep (≈40 minutes) can substantially impair HRQoL in children, adversely affecting physical well-being, school functioning, and daily coping. These findings highlight the critical importance of adequate, good-quality sleep for children’s overall health and development.

Reference

1. Taylor RW, et al. Effect of sleep changes on health-related quality of life in healthy children: a secondary analysis of the DREAM Crossover Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e233005. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.3005