Asian Journal of Medicine and Health

Background/Aim: Sleep is an elusive but indispensable requirement for good health. Health habits such as sleep formed during adolescence can contribute immensely to one’s wellbeing. The study aims to assess the sleep quality and the associated factors of poor sleep quality among adolescents.

Study Design:  A cross-sectional analytical study was done.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in 20 secondary schools in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, between March and May 2024.

Methodology: Eight hundred and ninety adolescents aged 10-19 years participated in this study. Data on their sleep quality were collected using pretested self-administered questionnaires, with questions adopted from the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A global PSQI score of ≤5 was considered as good sleep quality and >5 as poor sleep quality. Paired T-test was used to assess differences between weekday and weekend sleep duration. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to identify the factors associated with poor sleep quality. P-value <.05 was considered significant.

Results: In this study, the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 42.1%. The average sleep duration was 7.4 ±1.5 hours and the adolescents slept more during the weekends (p=.001). Their average bedtime and wake time were 10pm±1.25 hours and 6am ±0.45 hours, respectively. Attendance to private schools, single parenting and being in senior secondary school were factors significantly associated with poor sleep quality (p=.01, p=.03 and p= .002; .04, .004 respectively).

Conclusion: The adolescents in this study had poor sleep quality and about half of them slept below their age-recommended sleep duration. Therefore, there is a need for robust health education on all the dimensions of sleep health, including support from families, schools and government to promote good sleep quality.