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  • Title: Subjective and objective daytime sleepiness in schoolchildren and adolescents: results of a community-based study.
    Author: Urschitz MS, Heine K, Brockmann PE, Peters T, Durst W, Poets CF, Wilhelm B.
    Journal: Sleep Med; 2013 Oct; 14(10):1005-12. PubMed ID: 23993873.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess subjective and objective sleepiness in schoolchildren and adolescents by using questionnaires and the Pupillographic Sleepiness Test (PST). METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional, community-based study was performed. Participants were recruited and balanced by age and gender from schools using stratified random sampling. Sleep problems and subjective sleepiness were assessed using parent- and self-reported questionnaires. Objective sleepiness was assessed in schools under standardized conditions by using the PST and by calculating the natural logarithm of the pupillary unrest index (lnPUI). RESULTS: In total 163 children (82 boys; age range, 6.6-17.8 years) were enrolled. Age and sleep problems were predictors of subjective sleepiness. Nine PST recordings (5.5%) were excluded due to artifacts (feasibility, 94%). Gender, sleep problems, and sleep duration were predictors of objective sleepiness. Compared to adults (age range, 20-60 years), the lnPUI was higher in children (mean±standard deviation [SD], 1.5±0.4 vs. 2.0±0.4; P<.001) and showed significant gender differences. There was no agreement between measures of subjective sleepiness and the lnPUI (r<0.3). After excluding children with sleep problems, preliminary reference values (mean±SD) for the lnPUI were 2.01±0.43 for boys and 1.93±0.43 for girls, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The PST is a feasible method in schoolchildren and adolescents. Sleep problems are predictors of both subjective and objective sleepiness; there is no agreement between the latter. Results of the PST are influenced by sleep duration and specific pediatric gender-stratified reference values are definitively needed.
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