Abstract

Introduction: Sleep is an important physiological condition that plays ole 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). Methodology: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at 14 schools in the city of Ribeirão Preto (SP) including adolescents aged 10 to 19 years using a questionnaire about sleep habits. The chi-square 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 less than 9 hours 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 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, the most of adolescents went to the bed when they felt sleepy, used electronic devices before to sleep, had difficulties to fall asleep, need to be awake in the morning and felt sleepy during the day.

Keywords: Adolescent; Sleep; Sleep hygiene; Sleep stages