What is it about?
We measured the patterns of skin temperature change using Thermochron iButtons, over 4 consecutive nights in the children's home settings, with their usual routines and activities. We viewed patterns of distal (feet), proximal (abdomen and subclavicle areas), and forehead skin temperatures and found that there was a reliable pattern of skin temperature change, especially in relation to children's sleep onset.
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Why is it important?
The relationship between body temperature and sleep is well known. Recent studies point to the importance of distal skin temperature, in particular, for sleep onset. Essentially, people of all ages need to have warm extremities (distal vasodilation) to enable core body temperature drop that is associated with sleep onset. This study is important because i) we now know that school aged children have these patterns (as shown for other age groups) , ii) we know that these measures are practical and reliable for children in their home settings, and iii) we know that these measures can be used to complement other measures of sleep and patterns of circadian rhythms in individuals, in their home settings.
Perspectives
Good sleep is essential for all aspects of our health, well-being, learning, behaviour and participation. Children (like people of all ages) with health conditions and neuro-developmental or neurological disorders especially need good sleep, to help mitigate and manage the effects of their conditions. Often, their condition involves physiological and behavioural factors which are likely to cause sleep problems. I hope that, with better understanding of the diverse physiological, environmental and behavioural factors which affect everyone's sleep, we can identify most effective strategies for best sleep for each person, in their own settings. This study of the importance of distal warming for sleep onset, and of overall thermal comfort for sleep maintenance, is just one more example of how important it is for us to consider the whole picture - the interplay of the person, their activities and routines, and their environment.
Sue McCabe
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Patterns and reliability of children's skin temperature prior to and during sleep in the home setting, Physiology & Behavior, October 2018, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.06.005.
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