Dados do Trabalho

Título

Excessive daytime sleepiness in high school students

Introdução

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) has become one of the most common complaints among teenagers and affects 10% to 25% of them, especially in the final stages of puberty. In this step, the physiological and cyclical hormone variations in females can affect the sleep-wake cycle when compared to male teenagers. Exaggerated use of technological devices, such as smartphones and tablets, is also related to weight gain and change in sleep patterns in this population.

Objetivo

Thus, the aim of the present work was to compare excessive daytime sleepiness in high school female and male teenage students.

Métodos

This is a cross-sectional study. One hundred and forty-nine (76 female teenagers and 73 male teenagers) high school students of a public school located in the state of Pernambuco were underwent to anthropometric evaluation and answered 1 (one) self-applied questionnaire (Epworth sleepiness scale) to assess excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Student’s t-test for independent samples was used for statistical analysis. A p‐value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Resultados

There was no gender difference in the sample characteristics (female teenagers: 16.6±1.2 years old vs. male teenagers: 17.3±1.1 years old; p = 0.181); body mass index (BMI) (female teenagers: 22.6±3.9 kg/m2 vs. male teenagers: 22.2±4.3 kg/m2; p = 0.512). Regarding the evaluation of the EDS, female teenagers have shown a significantly higher score than male teenagers (female teenagers: 11.1±4.8 vs. male teenagers: 9.6±4.0; p = 0.035).

Conclusões

Our results corroborate the notion that EDS is more prevalent among females, even they were teenagers. It is suggested that prevalence studies, using objective methods for sleeping pattern assessment should be carried out to investigate the EDS associated factors between genders.

Palavras-chave

Excessive daytime sleepiness; gender; high school students.