Relationship between sleep quality and activities of daily living engagement in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Background: Sleep problem is associated with children with Autism Spectrums Disorder (ASD), and it is well documented in many studies. However, the effect of sleep problems on Activities of Daily living (ADLs) is less focused. Aim: The goal of the study was to determine the relationship between sleep quality and Activities of Daily living in children with ASD. Method: The study was conducted by a cross-sectional quantitative study design through face-to-face survey among 80 participants who are parents of children with ASD. All the participants were taken through a purposive sampling technique. The age range of the children was 5 -17 years, where n=63(78.8%) was boys, and n=17(21.3%) was girls. All participants received services from the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) and the Autism Welfare Foundation (AWF). All the children's diagnoses were confirmed through the pediatric Occupational Therapist. To identify sleep quality, used Children’s Sleep Habit Questionnaires (CSHQ) and a Self-developed questionnaire were used for ADLs performance measurement. Fisher Exact test is conducted to determine the association between age, medication, and sleep quality and Spearman's analysis for correlation between sleep quality and ADLs performance in descriptive analysis using SPSS-26 pro. Result: Results suggested that Children with ASD with sleep problems had a negative relationship with ADLs engagement but not Significant. More specifically, children with ASD face difficulty in sleep and ADLs engagement. Around 90% of ASD children suffer from sleep disorders, where the mean score was 47.45, SD (±6.71664) among 80 children. Approximately 41.3% needed minimum assistance on self-care activities, and 100% of children were independent in their mobility-related activities. Additionally, this study did not find any association between age range and medicine effect on the sleep quality of children with ASD. Conclusion: These results suggested that sleep had a negative relationship with ADLs engagement, but most children have more significant sleep problems and ADLs difficulties. However, sleep plays a vital role in developing children's physical, mental, and social well-being. The current studies did not explore specific sleep characteristics and their relation with ADLs. So future research should be conducted to determine the specific relationship between sleep problems and ADLs. Keywords: Sleep Problem, Activities of Daily Living, Children with Autism