Dados do Trabalho

Título

SLEEP PATTERN, EXCESSIVE DAYTIME SLEEPINESS AND OBESITY IN A POPULATION SAMPLE FROM A RURAL COMMUNITY IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Introdução

The sleep expressed in a population can predict health conditions. Urbanization promotes sleep irregularity and is related to the increasing worldwide rates of sleepiness and obesity, although little is known in rural populations.

Objetivo

To evaluate sleep patterns, rates of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and overweight in a small rural town in Brazil.

Métodos

This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, quantitative study carried out with a population composed of individuals living exclusively in the rural zone of the Community Palma, localized in Caicó-RN. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. Participants were submitted to sociodemographic and Munich questionnaires (with additional questions to assess naps), Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Body Mass Index (BMI) assessment. IBM SPSS software was used for statistical analysis, with a confidence interval of 95% and p < 0.05.

Resultados

This study had 306 participants, 40% were older than 51 years, 66% were female, 65.5% had less than elementary school education, 76.8% had a partner, 91% had a monthly income of less than 3 minimum salaries, and 63.5% were not directly involved in rural activities. 58.4% reported a sedentary lifestyle, 59.4% had three meals a day, 88.1% were non-smokers, and 72.6% were non-drinkers. Sleep pattern (bedtime 21h00; wake-up time 05h00; sleep duration of about 8h/night) did not vary between weekdays and weekend. From the Munich Questionnaire, the median midpoint of sleep (MSFc or MSF) was 01h00 (±1h15min) and the chronotype was defined from tertiles, with a predominance of morning (34.4%) and intermediate (36.6%). 73.8% reported naps with a mean duration of 1h/day. Multivariate analysis revealed that the chronotype had a significant association with age (p=0.001), gender (p=0.001), marital status (p=0.001), and obesity (p=0.032). 20% had EDS, with association with marital status (p=0.018). Based on BMI, 66.4% showed overweight, associating with age (p=0.002), marital status accompanied (p=0.003) and at least one obese parent (p=0.001).

Conclusões

In the study population, it was found that sleep episode allocation attends to environmental and sociocultural factors in rural contexts. The low variability in sleep patterns and duration of sleep per night, associated with the habit of napping, suggest a satisfactory sleep duration, associated with a low prevalence of EDS. Despite this, obesity was prevalent in this sample, highlighting other causal factors.

Palavras -chave

Circadian rhythms, Obesity, Rural Health.