Abstract
Introduction: The international literature gives us very variable data regarding sleep disorders and the complaints related to this pathology. However, interpreting these data is difficult because of the ethnical and cultural differences and the numerous possibilities of the assessments. In this paper the authors examined and evaluated the main parameters which characterize the sleep habits of a group of children in Romania, as well as the complaints related to it, which could influence the quality of sleeping.
Material and method: Distributing questionnaires amongst children in Tîrgu Mureș. We used different questionnaires, based on the Epworth and Conner’s scores, for children between 11-14 and 15-18 years and for their parents.
Results: The gender ratio was approximately equal, the height and weight of the children was within the framework of Romanian standards. The most frequent nocturnal complaints were: problems with falling asleep, agitation, awakenings during the night. The most frequent daytime complaints: fatigue when in school, difficulty waking up in the morning and mood swings. The results showed significant differences between weekday sleeping hours and weekend sleep time (p = 0.0022).
Conclusion: Sleep habits change with age, which is a physiological effect. Other factors that modify sleeping habits in a negative way and reduce the time spent sleeping, play a crucial role in the occurrence of persistent fatigue, reduced quality school performance and even of a depraved life quality.