Patterns of sleep and daytime sleepiness: comparison between adolescents from the interior and metropolitan regions

Abstract

Introduction  Sleep is a physiological process whose expression in humans is influenced by social and environmental factors.

Objective  Compare the variables sleep and daytime sleepiness in adolescents from a municipality in the countryside and from a metropolitan city.

Method  Study participants were 1645 adolescents from representative samples of two cities of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil: one from the interior of the state and another from a metropolitan area. Adolescents responded to a self-administered questionnaire on sociodemographic issues, sleeping and waking times on weekdays and weekends, daytime sleepiness, and health perception.

Results  Adolescents living in the metropolitan region presented delayed sleeping (p < 0.001), waking (p < 0.001), and mid-sleep ( p < 0.001) times compared with those of adolescents from the countryside. No statistically significant differences were observed between the means of sleep duration identified (p = 0.645). Adolescents also presented similar sleepiness indexes (p = 0.082). Association of negative health perception with high scores on the Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS) was observed regardless of the region in which adolescents live.

Conclusions  Results suggest that contextual and geographic variables influence the sleep phase of adolescents. Therefore, a better understanding of sleep compensatory measures in adolescents is fundamental.

Keywords:  sleep; adolescent; disorders of excessive somnolence