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Objective: The aim of this study was to examine sleep and psycho-behavioral variables in Georgian Internally Displaced (ID) Children and their population-based controls., Methods: One hundred and sixty one children (10.85 ± 0.9) from ID families escaped from Shida Kartli, Georgia, and 161 non-ID children (10.94 ± 0.9) were studied after seven years of displacement. Children completed the Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale, Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Child Trauma Screening Questionnaire (CTSQ). In addition, we assessed the children's appraisal of the family environment. Moreover, parents reported socio-demographic information, their children's academic excellence, and completed the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)., Results: Compared with the control group, ID children had a lower level of academic excellence and family environment (p < 0.01) as well as higher scores in all SDSC dimensions with the significant difference for breathing (p < 0.001), hyperhidrosis and SDSC total scores (p < 0.05). Cognitive pre-sleep arousal was significantly higher in non-IDs (p < 0.01), while there was no difference between groups in somatic pre-sleep arousal level. All BPAQ component and total scores were higher in IDs than in non-IDs but the difference was significant only in Physical Aggression (p < 0.01). Mean scores for BDI and PSS were significantly higher in ID than non-ID parents (p < 0.001). Both cognitive and somatic pre-sleep arousal predicted SDSC total score in non-IDs (p < 0.01) while cognitive but not somatic arousal was significant predictor in IDs (p < 0.01)., Conclusion: Sleep and psycho-behavioral problems are noticeable even in those ID children who were very young at the time of displacement. Psycho-social environment in which children are growing up warrants major consideration in ID population., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The extent to which sleep disorders are associated with impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is poorly described in the developing world. We investigated the prevalence and severity of various sleep disorders and their associations with HRQoL in an urban Georgian population. 395 volunteers (20⁻60 years) completed Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, STOP-Bang questionnaire, Insomnia Severity Index, Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form, and Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Socio-demographic data and body mass index (BMI) were obtained. The prevalence of sleep disorders and their association with HRQoL was considerable. All SF-12 components and physical and mental component summaries (PCS, MCS) were significantly lower in poor sleepers, subjects with daytime sleepiness, apnea risk, or insomnia. Insomnia and apnea severity were also associated with lower scores on most SF-12 dimensions. The effect of insomnia severity was more pronounced on MCS, while apnea severity-on PCS. Hierarchical analyses showed that after controlling for potential confounding factors (demographics, depression, BMI), sleep quality significantly increased model's predictive power with an R² change (ΔR²) by 3.5% for PCS (adjusted R² = 0.27) and by 2.9% for MCS (adjusted R² = 0.48); for the other SF-12 components ΔR² ranged between 1.4% and 4.6%. ESS, STOP-Bang, ISI scores, all exerted clear effects on PCS and MCS in an individual regression models. Our results confirm and extend the findings of studies from Western societies and strongly support the importance of sleep for HRQoL. Elaboration of intervention programs designed to strengthen sleep-related health care and thereof HRQoL is especially important in the developing world.

Although traumatic events are presumed to cause sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia, sleep in populations subjected to forced displacement has received little attention. The present study examined the prevalence of insomnia and associated factors in internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Abkhazia 15 years after displacement to Tbilisi. Detailed subjective information about sleep-wake habits, sleep-related and stress-related parameters were obtained from 87 IDPs categorized into good sleepers and insomniacs. The Insomnia Severity Index, Perceived Stress Scale and Beck Depression Inventory were administered. The incidence of insomnia was 41.4%. The majority of insomniacs strongly believed that war-related stress accounted for the onset of their insomnia. Stepwise regression (95% confidence interval) revealed four variables significantly associated with insomnia status: self-estimated influence of war related stress (odds ratio (OR) = 2.51), frequency of nightmares (OR = 1.6), Perceived Stress Scale score (OR = 1.14) and Beck Depression Inventory score (OR = 1.12). Insomnia in IDPs was strongly related to war-associated remembered stress. ‛Over thinking' about major stress exposure enhanced IDPs' vulnerability to insomnia. These findings have implications for the management of insomnia and associated impairment of daytime functioning in IDPs., (Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)