Screen exposure status and sleep problems in preschool children with autism spectrum disorders

Objective To investigate the screen exposure status and sleep problems in preschool children with autism spectrum disorders （ASD） and explore the relationship between them. Methods The screen exposure status and sleep problems of 101 preschool ASD children were evaluated by self-designed screen usage questionnaire and Chinese version sleep habits questionnaire. The relationship between them was evaluated by Logistic regression analysis. Results The rate of screen exposure timeout （> 1 h/d） in preschool children with ASD was 35.6%. The ratio of using screen devices during meal time was 61.4%. The ratio of using screen devices one hour before sleep to varying degrees was 75.2%. The ratio of more frequent use of handheld screen devices such as mobile phones was 66.3%.The rate of common sleep problems was as follows： poor sleep （82.2%）, poor bedtime habits （62.4%）, lack of sleep （56.7%）, sleep anxiety （44.6%）. The rate of lack of sleep and sleep anxiety significantly differed between ASD children aged 3-4 and 5-6 years groups （both P < 0.05）. Screen exposure timeout was a risk factor for poor sleep duration and sleep apnea （OR were 2.952 and 4.615, respectively, both P < 0.05）. Conclusions The screen exposure status and sleep problems of preschool ASD children are relatively serious. The screen exposure timeout is associated with the occurrence of poor sleep duration and sleep apnea in preschool ASD children.