Introduction:

Sleep disorders in childhood constitute a highly frequent phenomenon. The sleep habits´ questionnaires are instruments of undeniable value that complement the sleep’s objective studies.

Objective:

To validate the Spanish version of a Questionnaire (NICHD SECCYD-Wisconsin) and compare it with the results of previous studies in other countries.

Methods:

It was selected the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire for its use in the neurophysiology laboratory of the International Center of Neurological Restoration (CIREN, by its acronym in Spanish). In the first stage of the study, the questionnaire was translated and adapted to Spanish according to the international standards. 330 questionnaires were delivered to the parents of a Cuban community sample of children aged 2 to10 years old, with a response rate of 93 %. 295 (96 %) useful questionnaires were obtained, 25 met the exclusion criteria, 270 were accepted for validation studies. The results were compared with the results of other countries.

Results:

The Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire´s internal consistency (Cronbach) was 0.67 for the total scale and ranged from 0.42 to 0.61 for subscales. The test-retest reliability for subscales used t for students in dependent samples, being n= 86.The differences were meaningful for subscales 3 y 8 (p= 0,4).

Conclusion:

The questionnaire according to its original version and in comparison with that of other countries has adequate psychometric properties to evaluate sleep problems in Cuban children between 2 and 10 years.

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