0915 Sleep Patterns and the Effect of Late Bedtime on School-Age Children and Adolescents: Preliminary Results

Abstract

Introduction: School-age children (6-13yrs) and teenagers (14-17yrs) should receive 9-11hrs and 8-10hrs of sleep/day, respectively. Several studies have shown, however, that these age groups are chronically sleep deprived. Our study assessed the sleep patterns of a sample of children and teenagers in Athens, Greece. The study is part of a larger project investigating the association between orthodontic treatment and sleep disturbances. Methods: Participants (N=27; 69% females; 21 school-age children 9-13yrs, 6 teenagers 14-17yrs) were under treatment in the Orthodontic Clinic of the National and Kapodistrian University. Sleep was assessed with actigraphy/logs for 59±19 days. Results: Participants slept on average 7.36±0.42hrs/day. Nighttime sleep was on average 7.23±0.43hrs (percentage sleep: 87.3%±3.38%). Four (14.8%) participants napped at least once/week. Compared to the lowest sleep duration recommended for their age group, participants showed a chronic sleep deficit of 1.42±0.52hrs/day (range: 0.32-2.15hrs). The younger age group had an average sleep deficit of ~1.6hrs compared to ~0.8hrs for the teenagers (p=0.006). During the school year, daily sleep duration increased by ~0.73hrs on weekends (7.78±0.67hrs) compared to school nights (7.05±0.48hrs; p<0.001). On average, school-age participants slept from 23:13 (±31min) until 7:19 (±22min) on school nights and from 23:23 (±2:72hrs) until 8:49 (±39min) on weekends. Teenagers slept from 00:34 (±36min) until 7:40 (±14min) on school nights and from 01:34 (±41min) until 10:34 (±48min) on weekends. Conclusion: Our findings verify earlier survey results showing that restricted sleep is a problem for children and adolescents in Greece. To our surprise, both age groups go to bed quite late. The impact of late bedtime on sleep duration, however, is larger in the younger group due to their larger sleep needs. In contrast to earlier research in rural areas, napping was not common in our urban sample, probably due to extracurricular activities and studying at home.