Skip Navigation


Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access originally published online on November 17, 2007
Journal of Pediatric Psychology 2008 33(3):298-306; doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsm110
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
33/3/298    most recent
jsm110v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sanford, S. D.
Right arrow Articles by Hinds, P. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sanford, S. D.
Right arrow Articles by Hinds, P. S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Gender Differences in Sleep, Fatigue, and Daytime Activity in a Pediatric Oncology Sample Receiving Dexamethasone

Stacy D. Sanford, PhD, James O. Okuma, MS, Jianmin Pan, PhD, Deo Kumar Srivastava, PhD, Nancy West, BSN, Lynne Farr, PhD and Pamela S. Hinds, PhD, FAAN

St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Stacy Sanford, PhD, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 N. Lauderdale St MS, 740, Memphis TN 38105, USA. E-mail: Stacy.Sanford{at}stjude.org


  Abstract

Objective To examine gender differences in sleep, fatigue, and daytime activity in a sample of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Methods Participants included 88 children in maintenance treatment for ALL (34 girls; 54 boys). Participants wore an actigraph for 10 consecutive days (5 days pre-dexamethasone and 5 days during dexamethasone administration). Fatigue instruments were also administered. Results Girls napped more and had less fragmented night sleep than boys did. Wake time after sleep onset was sensitive to dexamethasone administration, revealing a differential direction of response for girls and boys. No gender differences were observed for subjective fatigue or daytime activity in the total sample. Conclusions Our preliminary findings support gender differences in the sleep of children with cancer after controlling for differences in age, treatment, and risk group. Future research that focuses on the etiology of gender differences and developing interventions will help clarify the clinical application of our findings.

Key words: actigraphy; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; dexamethasone; fatigue; gender differences; pediatric oncology; sleep.

Received May 14, 2007; revision received October 10, 2007; accepted October 16, 2007


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.