Carer's views of sleep disorders in adults with intellectual disabilities

Aim: To identify the most common sleep problems carers believe adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) tend to experience; investigate whether the degree of ID affects sleep problems; and, look at whether carers’ views of the individuals’ challenging behaviours correlate with sleep problems.

Method: The total adult population registered as having ID in a South London NHS Trust and their carers were contacted, out of which 155 participated in the study. Carers completed the Children’s Sleep Habit Questionnaire (adapted for adults), the functional assessments survey (investigating physical and intellectual abilities), and the Short Behaviours That Challenge Checklist.

Results: Carers reported high prevalence of sleep problems. The most problematic areas were found to be sleep onset delay, sleep duration, night waking and daytime sleepiness followed by parasomnias and sleep disordered breathing.

Conclusions: Findings confirmed that adults with ID experience sleep problems, with specific sleep problems highlighted within this population. It was also confirmed that adults with severe ID and challenging behaviour experience more sleep problems than adults with higher functioning abilities and no challenging behaviours. Future research should concentrate on specific techniques for treating sleep problems and perhaps investigate in more depth the correlation between severity of ID, challenging behaviour, and sleep.