Sleep Quality in Adolescents in Relation to Age and Sleep-related Habitual and Environmental Factors

Abstract

Sleep is an essential component of mental and physical development in children and adolescents (1-4). However, insufficient sleep and disturbed sleep patterns are common in the pediatric age, with a rising prevalence throughout adolescence (2,5-7). Adolescence is considered a period with considerable alterations in sleep pattern in terms of amount and quality (7-10) in relation to physiological, environmental, social and behavioral changes specific to this life period (10-12). The trend of insufficient and deteriorating sleep and poor sleep hygiene among adolescents is considered a public health concern given the short and long term detrimental health outcomes including poor diet; sedative behavior; obesity; reduced immunity; stunted growth; cognitive impairment, poor academic performance and mental health problems

Psychological distress, drug use, and internet use: the association with poor sleep quality in a sample of secondary school students

“…While the ranked mean age of those who reported poor quality of sleep in the present study was higher than those who did not, the difference was not statistically signi cant. This is similar to the report by Şimşek and Tekgül [29], who examined the effect of age on sleep quality even though a different screening tool was applied in their study. The effect of the biological changes which accompanies aging has been well acknowledged and said to account for the changes in sleep pattern in the adolescents.…”

“…Our ndings revealed that 12.2% of the participants rated themselves to have PSQ. Evidence from previous studies among adolescents, such as in the USA [5], Taiwan [7], Turkey, [29] and Nigeria [3,4] revealed higher rates, compared to the current report, which is higher than what was reported in India [30]. The disparity in rates may be related to the differences in research tools used to assess sleep quality, the de nition of terms, as well as the age of the participants.…”

“…The disparity in rates may be related to the differences in research tools used to assess sleep quality, the de nition of terms, as well as the age of the participants. For example, while the mean age of the participant in the current study is lower than those from the USA [5], Taiwan [7], Turkey, [29] and Nigeria [3,4], it is slightly higher than the study from India which reported a lower prevalence [30]. It thus appears that increasing age is linked to higher sleep quality, having compared all these prevalence reports.…”

“…The effect of the biological changes which accompanies aging has been well acknowledged and said to account for the changes in sleep pattern in the adolescents. Notwithstanding, evidence pointing to the role of environmental elements, especially the modern-day technology, and those of the psychological disorders, are now evolving [7,29]. Some authors have linked the reduced need for sleep and an increasing stage of adolescence with increasing school and social demands [30,31].…”

Sleep Quality and Associated Factors among Adolescents

“…There was no statistically significant relationship between PSQI score and body weight, BMI classification, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist/height ratio (p>0.05) ( Table 5). 28,29 . Sleep latency was >30 minutes in 15.3% of adolescents in our cohort, which seem lower than previously reported rates 28,29 .…”