Impact of sleep on educational outcome of Indigenous Australian children: A systematic review

Introduction

The association between quality sleep and improved cognition is well reported in literature. However, very few studies have been undertaken to evaluate the impact of poor sleep on educational outcomes in Indigenous Australian children.

Objectives

The objective of this review was to explore the association between sleep and educational outcomes of Indigenous children.

Methods

For this systematic review, a literature search covering research articles in academic databases and grey literature sources was conducted to retrieve studies published until March 2022. Eight online e-databases (PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, HealthinfoNet, PsycINFO, Cochrane and Google Scholar) were searched for data extraction and two appraisal tools (NIH and CREATE) were used for quality assessment. Studies that explored any aspect of sleep health in relation to educational/academic outcomes in school going Indigenous Australian children aged 5–18 were included in this study. All review articles and studies that focused on physical/ mental disabilities or parent perceptions of sleep and educational outcomes were excluded. A convergent integrated approach was used to collate and synthesize information.

Results

Only three studies (two cross-sectional and one longitudinal) met the eligibility criteria out of 574 articles. The sample size ranged from 21–50 of 6 to 13 year old children. A strong relationship was indicated between sleep quantity and educational outcomes, in two of the three studies. One study related the sleep fragmentation/shorter sleep schedules of short sleep class and early risers with poorer reading (B = −30.81 to −37.28, p = 0.006 to 0.023), grammar (B = −39.79 to −47.89, p = 0.012–0.013) and numeracy (B = −37.93 to −50.15, p = 0.003 to 0.022) skills compared with long sleep and normative sleep class whereas another reported no significant relation between sleep and educational outcomes.

Conclusion

The review highlights the need for more research to provide evidence of potentially modifiable factors such as sleep and the impact these may have on academic performance.