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Night sweats in children: prevalence and associated factors
  1. Hung K So1,
  2. Albert M Li1,
  3. Chun T Au1,
  4. Jihui Zhang2,
  5. Joseph Lau3,
  6. Tai F Fok1,
  7. Yun K Wing2
  1. 1Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
  2. 2Department of Psychiatry, Shatin Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
  3. 3Centre for Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
  1. Correspondence to Dr Hung K So, Research Associate, Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China; sohk{at}cuhk.edu.hk

Abstract

Objective The authors aimed to examine the prevalence and factors associated with night sweats (NS) in primary school children.

Study design Cross-sectional design.

Results Among 6381 children (median age 9.2 (7.7–10.7) years) with complete information on NS, 3225 were boys (50.5%). 747 children (11.7%) were reported to have weekly NS in the past 12 months. Boys were more likely than girls to have NS (p<0.0001). Children with NS were more likely to have sleep-related symptoms and respiratory and atopic diseases. In addition, they were more likely to be hyperactive and have frequent temper outbursts. Using an ordinal regression model, NS was found to be significantly associated with male gender, younger age, allergic rhinitis, tonsillitis and symptoms suggestive of obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia and parasomnia.

Conclusion NS is prevalent among school-aged children and is associated with the presence of sleep-related symptoms and respiratory and atopic diseases.

https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2010.199638

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    Footnotes

    • Funding This study was part of the epidemiology study funded by Grant CUHK4161/02M from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval The study was approved by the Joint Research Ethics Committees of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and New Territories East Cluster.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.