ABSTRACT
Objective
To investigate the prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and associated factors in adolescents attending military schools.
Methods
466 high school students (15-17 years old) of both sexes (230 men) participated. Participants were interviewed about sociodemographic characteristics and sleep duration (week and weekend), adopting values < 8 hours of sleep as insufficient sleep time. EDS was assessed with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale; where students with scores ≥ 10 had EDS.
Results
The overall prevalence of EDS was 34.1%. The mean for sleep hours was 6.9 h (±1,85) on weekdays and 8.5 h (±1.96) on weekends. It was identified that 60% of the adolescents presented short weekly sleep duration (p = 0.05). In the final regression model, higher EDS risks were observed in those subjects that had a short sleep duration (OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.04-2.31) and those that used the cell phone before bedtime (OR: 4.30; 95% CI: 2.00-9.23).
Conclusion
EDS was strongly associated with cell phone use before bedtime. Other associated factors are insufficient sleep and studying full-time. Educational, administrative and health measures are needed to improve sleep in adolescents.
Sleep hygiene; students; student health
