Sleeping Angels

How children's sleep affects their health and well being.

by Dennis Rosen, M.D.

Eczema, a bad night's sleep, and behavioral disturbances

Fragmented sleep from eczema negatively affects daytime behavior

Published on January 3, 2011 by Dennis Rosen, M.D. in Sleeping Angels

Eczema is a very common disorder in children, and affects 10-20% of children. It is also known to cause sleep disturbances, and various studies have found that up to 83% of children suffering from a flare up of their eczema have difficulties falling asleep and staying asleep. This is thought to be secondary to increased itchiness and overall discomfort, and parents of children with eczema have identified the associated sleep disturbances as being second only to itch in having the most negative effect on quality of life.

It has also been reported that many children with eczema have a variety of behavioral problems, including ADHD and oppositional behavior. What the cause of these behavioral problems was not known, until now.

In this month's issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, a group of researchers from Australia report the findings of a study they conducted in which they sought to determine if the behavioral disturbances seen in children with eczema were the direct result of sleep disruption, or whether they could be explained by something else (for example, increased crankiness because of increased itchiness during the day).

Find a Therapist

Search for a mental health professional near you.

Find Local:

Comparing 77 children age 6-16 with eczema to 30 healthy kids without eczema, the researchers found that indeed, the behavioral disturbances were directly correlated with sleep disturbance, especially with sleep fragmentation (broken and interrupted sleep, the opposite of a good night's sleep).

This effect was especially pronounced in children under the age of 10 and in those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

While the number of children studied was small, it does seem to indicate that being more aggressive in treating eczema, especially when it causes sleep disturbances, may improve the overall quality of life of the afflicted child as well as that of his or her family.

However, it is important to caution that many of the medications used to treat eczema, especially steroid creams, can have significant systemic side effects. Therefore, it is always a good idea to try and identify and isolate the underlying cause whenever possible.