Latent Profile Analysis of Sleep Patterns and Their Association with Gastrointestinal Heat Accumulation in 6878 Preschool Children in Beijing
10.13288/j.11-2166/r.2026.16.012
- VernacularTitle:6878例北京市学龄前儿童睡眠特征的潜在剖面分析及与胃肠积热证的相关性
- Author:
Hanwen ZHANG
1
;
Xiaohong GU
1
;
Xueyan MA
1
;
Xue LI
1
;
Lina LIU
1
;
Jiyu JIANG
1
;
Shuxuan LI
1
;
Qingpu MA
1
;
Tiegang LIU
1
Author Information
1. Beijing University of Chinese Medicine，Beijing，100029
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
sleep disorders;
gastrointestinal heat accumulation syndrome;
latent profile analysis;
preschool children
- From:
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine
2026;67(16):1759-1766
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
ObjectiveTo explore the latent profiles of sleep patterns and their association with gastrointestinal heat accumulation syndrome in preschool children in Beijing. MethodsA cross-sectional study design was adopted， and preschool children were recruited from 57 kindergartens in Beijing using convenience sampling. Sleep characteristics and gastrointestinal heat accumulation syndrome was assessed using the Chinese version of the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children （SDSC） and Self-rating Diagnostic Scale for Gastrointestinal Heat Retention Syndrome in children （GHRS）. Latent profile analysis （LPA） was applied to identify distinct sleep-related subgroups， and multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between different sleep profiles and gastrointestinal heat accumulation syndrome. ResultsA total of 6878 preschool children were included in the study. Among them， 3.46% of the children （238/6878） had sleep disorders， while 54.42% （3743/6878） had gastrointestinal heat accumulation. Compared to children without gastrointestinal heat accumulation syndrome， those with this syndrome exhibited a higher prevalence of sleep disorders， higher SDSC scores， higher T-transformed total scores， and higher scores across all dimensions， including disorders of initiating sleep， disorders of maintaining sleep， sleep hyperhidrosis， sleep breathing disorders， parasomnias， nonrestorative sleep and excessive somnolence （P＜0.01）. Latent profile analysis identified four distinct sleep characteristic profiles， which were the mixed high-symptom group （32.39%， 2228/6878）， sleep initiation and maintenance difficulty symptom group （49.07%， 3375/6878）， low-symptom group （14.19%， 976/6878）， and the group with no significant symptoms （4.35%， 299/6878）. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the mixed high-symptom group， sleep initiation and maintenance difficulty symptom group， and low-symptom group were significantly associated with gastrointestinal heat accumulation syndrome. Among them， the mixed high-symptom group had the most significant association with gastrointestinal heat accumulation （OR=12.657， P＜0.001）， followed by the sleep initiation and maintenance difficulty symptom group （OR=4.964， P＜0.001）. ConclusionSleep characteristics in preschool children mainly present as composite patterns with different symptom combinations. Moreover， the sleep latent profiles of the mixed high-symptom group， the sleep initiation and maintenance difficulty symptom group， and the low-symptom group were significantly associated with gastrointestinal heat accumulation syndrome.
