The Effect of Sleep Hygiene Education on Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Habits among Adolescents in Visakhapatnam.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of sleep hygiene education on sleep duration, quality, and pleased habit among adolescents in Visakhapatnam. Lack of sleep and bad sleeping habits are common problems within this age group and they have impacted negatively on their health, academic achievement and emotional state. Quasi experimental pretest posttest design was used with the sample consisting of 250 adolescents of between 13-18 years of age across different schools of Visakhapatnam. The participants were given a structured education program on sleep hygiene that emphasized on the best sleep schedules, screen time self-regulation, caffeine avoidance, and the establishment of a favorable sleeping environment. The Pittsburgh sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale (ASHS) were used to gather data at the baseline and four weeks of intervention.The findings showed that there was a considerable increase in the duration of sleep and quality of sleep. The average number of hours of sleep per night went up to 1.5 hours per night as it was at baseline (6.5 hours) and 8.0 hours at the intervention. The scores of PSQI were better (assessed as 5.2 vs. 8.1) which shows that there was better sleep quality. Also, the practice of healthy sleep hygiene, including limiting screen time use before bedtime and maintaining a regular bedtime schedule, also improved significantly. The subgroup analysis revealed that females and those with lesser sleep hygiene at baseline had greater improvements.This paper highlights the success of sleep hygiene education in enhancing sleep behaviors in teenagers. The results demonstrate that schools and even health policymakers should consider teaching sleep hygiene in school curricula and in the community health programs to deal with sleep deprivation and enhance healthy sleeping habits among youths. The intervention revealed that, sleep hygiene is an inexpensive intervention that can improve the aspect of wellness, academic achievement and mental health of adolescents.