Effect of sleep duration on gender difference children’s school performance
SUN Wanqi，JIANG Yanrui，CHEN Wenjuan，LI Shenghui，JIANG Fan，SHENG Xiaoming
1. Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics，Shanghai Children’s Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine，Shanghai 200127，China；2. MOE-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children’s Environmental Health，Shanghai 200092，China；3. Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine，Shanghai 200092，China
Abstract：Objective To explore gender difference in children’s sleep duration，school performance and the effect of sleep duration on school performance. Methods A total of 2 249 grade-five children were sampled by stratified cluster random sampling from 10 primary schools in Shanghai between November and December 2009. The school achievement questionnaire（teacher version）was applied to evaluate children’s achievement（lower the score better the performance）. Family and social environment questionnaire was used to collect socio-economic information and children’s sleep parameters as well. t-test and multivariable linear regression were adopted to compare the sleep duration and academic achievement among children within different gender groups. Results The mean age of the samples was（10.81 ± 0.38）years old with 49.3% being boys. The prevalence of sleep insufficient was higher among boys than girls（χ2 = 7.84，P = 0.005）. The total score and subscale scores of the school achievement questionnaire were higher among boys than girls（t = 10.56，P < 0.001），which meant boys had poorer school performance than girls. The linear regression analysis showed that the adequate sleep duration had an positive role in children’s school performance（β = -0.08，t = -3.82，P < 0.001），and in particular more significant in boys. Conclusion Insufficient sleep was more common among boys，while their school performance was more affected by short sleep duration. Therefore，ensuring boys with adequate sleep may help improve their daytime function and school performance.
2013, Vol. 1 
