Association of sleep disorders with subfoveal choroidal thickness in preschool children

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between sleep disorders and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in preschool children. METHODS: In this population-based cross-sectional study, children aged 60–72 months were measured for SFCT using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and for sleep disorders using the Chinese version of Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association between sleep disorders and SFCT. RESULTS: A total of 1337 children (mean (SD) age: 66.88 (3.41) months) were included in the analyses. In multivariable linear analysis, a higher total CSHQ score (indicating higher likelihood of sleep disorders) was associated with a thinner subfoveal choroid (beta, −0.070; 95% CI, −0.141 to −0.001; P = 0.046). When each of eight CSHQ subscale scores was analysed by the multivariable model, only the Daytime Sleepiness subscale score was negatively associated with the SFCT (beta, −0.115; 95% CI, −0.183 to −0.046; P = 0.001). The children with clinically significant daytime sleepiness (n = 364, 27.2%) had significantly thinner subfoveal choroid than other children (295.47 vs. 308.52 μm, P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Only daytime sleepiness was significantly associated with SFCT in preschool children in this study. The potential relationship between sleep disorders during childhood and children’s ocular development needs further research.