These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: A quasi-experimental study of the impact of school start time changes on adolescent sleep.
    Author: Owens JA, Dearth-Wesley T, Herman AN, Oakes JM, Whitaker RC.
    Journal: Sleep Health; 2017 Dec; 3(6):437-443. PubMed ID: 29157637.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: To determine whether simultaneous school start time changes (delay for some schools; advance for others) impact adolescents' sleep. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental study using cross-sectional surveys before and after changes to school start times in September 2015. SETTING: Eight middle (grades 7-8), 3 secondary (grades 7-12), and 8 high (grades 9-12) schools in Fairfax County (Virginia) public schools. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2017 (6% of ~34,900) students were surveyed before start time changes, and 1180 (3% of ~35,300) were surveyed after. INTERVENTION: A 50-minute delay (7:20 to 8:10 am) in start time for high schools and secondary schools and a 30-minute advance (8:00 to 7:30 am) for middle schools. MEASUREMENTS: Differences before and after start time changes in self-reported sleep duration and daytime sleepiness. RESULTS: Among respondents, 57.5% were non-Hispanic white, and 10.3% received free or reduced-priced school meals. Before start time changes, high/secondary and middle school students slept a mean (SD) of 7.4 (1.2) and 8.4 (1.0) hours on school nights, respectively, and had a prevalence of daytime sleepiness of 78.4% and 57.2%, respectively. Adjusted for potential confounders, students with a 50-minute delay slept 30.1 minutes longer (95% confidence interval [CI], 24.3-36.0) on school nights and had less daytime sleepiness (-4.8%; 95% CI, -8.5% to -1.1%), whereas students with a 30-minute advance slept 14.8 minutes less (95% CI, -21.6 to -8.0) and had more daytime sleepiness (8.0%; 95% CI, 2.5%-13.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Both advances and delays in school start times are associated with changes in adolescents' school-night sleep duration and daytime sleepiness. Larger changes might occur with later start times.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]