Characteristics of sleep habits among adolescents living in the city of Ribeirão Preto (SP).

INTRODUCTION: Sleep is an important physiological condition that plays a role in the physical and emotional development of adolescents. The aim of the study is to determine some sleep characteristics of adolescents living in the city of Ribeirão Preto (SP).

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at 14 schools in the city of Ribeirão Preto (SP) including adolescents aged 10-19 years using a questionnaire about sleep habits. The χ2 test was used to determine differences between genders with the aid of the EPI-INFO 7 software, with the level of significance set at p<0.05.

RESULTS: A total of 535 adolescents (65% girls) were included in the study. Of these, 47.7% studied during the morning period and 10.3% had a job and studied in the evening period. Regarding sleep duration, 242 (45%) slept <9 h per night during week days and 256 (48%) during the weekends (Saturday and Sunday). Of the total number of adolescents studied, 75.5% reported that they went to bed when they felt sleepy, 90% reported delay in falling asleep, 84.3% used some type of electronic equipment before going to sleep, and 44% reported that they woke up during the night. In the morning, 70.3% needed to be awakened, and 44.7% reported a delay in waking up. During daytime, 70% felt somnolent and 34% reported that they slept during the day. Girls reported that they felt more daytime sleepiness (71.3%) and slept more during the day (62.1%) than boys (28.7% and 37.9%, respectively).

CONCLUSION: The study showed that almost half the adolescents investigated sleep less than the minimum time considered ideal. Furthermore, most of the adolescents went to the bed when they felt sleepy, used electronic devices before falling sleep, had difficulties falling asleep, need to be awaken in the morning and felt sleepy during the day.