Validation of the sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC) in infants and toddlers from mainland China

The sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC) has been validated in the population of Chinese children (aged 5–16 years) and has good psychometric properties. However, valid assessment tools for sleep problems in the population of infants and young children from mainland China are relatively scarce, and rates of screening and management for pediatric sleep problems are low. OBJECTIVE: This study is to evaluate the reliability and validity of SDSC among infants (aged 6–36 months), and to provide a reference for expanding the application of the SDSC for Chinese infants (SDSC-I). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From April to November 2021, parents of infants from Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Longyan, Sanming, and Nanping cities in Fujian Province, China completed the SDSC-I. Several factor analyses were performed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale. RESULTS: Of note, 432 out of 469 samples were valid. After item selections and exploratory factor analyses, the SDSC-I concluded six dimensions (disorders of initiating sleep, disorders of maintaining sleep, sleep hyperhidrosis, sleep breathing disorders, parasomnias, and non-restorative sleep and excessive somnolence) with 23 items. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the scale was 0.863, and those for the six dimensions were within 0.576–0.835. The values of parameters for content validity of the scale were: IR = 0.87, I-CVI > 0.78, Kappa value > 0.74, S-CVI/UA = 0.87, S-CVI/Ave = 0.98. Principal component analysis revealed that the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value was 0.84, and the factor loading of items ranged from 0.328 to 0.849, with six factors of eigenvalue more than one, which could explain 58.274% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis results showed that χ(2)/DF was 3.556, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.077, comparative fit index (CFI) was 0.809, and standardized RMR (SRMR) was 0.070. CONCLUSION: Our study provides evidence that the SDSC-I is reliable and valid, and it is effective for the screening and management of sleep disturbances among infants (aged 6–36 months). Compared with other questionnaires such as the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ), it is worthy of popularization and application in pediatric primary care.