Sleep pattern, socioenvironmental factors, and use of electronic devices among Nigerian school-attending adolescents.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the sleep pattern among Nigerian school-attending adolescents and its association with socioenvironmental factors and the use of electronic devices.

DESIGN

Descriptive cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

Public and private secondary schools in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.

PARTICIPANTS

Multistage sampling technique was used to select 346 school-attending adolescents aged 10-19 years.

MEASUREMENTS

A modified version of the Adolescent Sleep Habits Survey Questionnaire was administered to respondents in the school setting using the facilitated self-administration method.

RESULTS

Participants' mean age was 13.5±2.29 years, and the male-female ratio was 1:1.1. The mean total sleep duration on weekends of 9 hours (h) 08 minutes (min) ± 113 min was significantly higher than that of weekdays (7 h 15 min ± 86 min) (P < .001). About half of the respondents (48.7 %) had access to a computer. Majority of the respondents (80.9%) use one or more electronic device at bedtime, although cell phone was used by more than half (52.3%) of the respondents at bedtime. The proportion of adolescents with short sleep duration was 44.4% for weekdays and 5.5% for weekends. Lower social class and non-use of computers in the night time were independent predictors of adequate sleep duration on weekdays, whereas female sex, age (early adolescence), and polygamous family setting were independent predictors of sufficient sleep on weekends.

CONCLUSION

A high proportion of school-attending adolescents have insufficient sleep on weekdays and significantly sleep less during weekdays compared to weekends. There is a need to target adolescents, parents, and school authorities with education on sleep issues.