The Relationship Between Sensory-Processing Disorders and Sleep Disturbances in School-Aged Autistic Children in Shiraz, 2015

Background: Autism is a neurological disorder that limits communication, socialization, and participation of children in symbolic play. Sensory processing disorders are common characteristics (45% to 96%) of children with pervasive development disorders, including. Sleep disorders are also more prevalent in autistic children than in normal children. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sensory processing disorders and sleep disturbances in school-aged autistic children. Patients and Methods: This study is quantitative, observational, and cross-sectional. 35 school-aged autistic children in Shiraz, Iran were selected using cluster sampling. A demographic questionnaire, short sensory profile (SSP), and the sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC) were used. The Pearson correlation coefficient and Pearson chi-square were used during data analysis. Results: Results shows that autistic children show clear differences from normal function (74.3%), possible differences with normal function (20%), and normal function (5.7%) in their total sensory processing scores. 95.3% of autistic children had some degrees of abnormal sensory processing disorder. Also, 68.6% of the participants suffered from sleep disorders. However, there was no relationship between sensory processing disorders and sleep disturbances in children with autism (P value = 0.83). Also, there was no correlation between the subscales of sensory processing disorders and the subscales of sleep disturbances. Conclusions: The results showed that despite the simultaneous high prevalence of sleep disturbances and sensory processing disorders in children with autism, there isn’t a significant relationship between the two conditions among these children.