A comparative study of pre-sleep activities affecting the sleep of rural and urban adolescents in Tumkur district

Abstract

Background: Sleep affects mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of an adolescent. On an average for adequate development an adolescent should sleep for at-least 8 to 10 hours per day. Objectives: To study the pre-sleep activities affecting the sleep of rural and urban adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based school survey was designed with a sample size of 992 for the adolescents aged between 10 to 16 years of age. Children with illnesses that affected their sleep were excluded from the study. A pre-designed questionnaire was distributed to each of them. Later the data was tabulated in Microsoft excel and statistical analysis was done using software SPSS 22.0. Result: On comparing various factors that affect sleep, it was found that 27.62% of the subjects consumed beverages like tea and coffee before sleep, 42.64% used mobile phones before sleep, 58.06% watch television late at night, 41.73% consume dinner late in the night i.e., after 10 pm and 28.53% have sleep disturbance due to exam stress and fear. The use of mobile phones before sleep and late-night dinners was more among the adolescents residing in the urban areas compared to those in the rural areas which was statistically significant (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Pre sleep activities have a major impact on the quality of sleep, hence addressing them is essential.