Academic performance, sleep disorders and their association in middle school students in Iran

Abstract

Background: Although sleep disorders are common problems among families and they affect the learning, memory processes and academic performance of children, there is no evaluation of these disorders in Iran. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of sleep disorders and its association with academic performance of school age children.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,100 middle school students of Isfahan city of Iran during 2012-2013. Multi-stage random cluster sampling method was performed and five girl’s schools and five boy’s schools were selected. The data gathered with a validated questionnaire to evaluate the academic performance and sleep disorders.Results: The mean duration of nocturnal sleep was 8.38±1.17 which was significantly higher in the group with excellent academic performance (8.86±1.18 hours), than the other two groups (8.14±1.17 hours for average academic performance and 7.90±1.15 hours for poor academic performance). Academic performance was significantly associated with age, gender, parental occupation, nocturnal sleep time, sleep latency and sleep disorders (P<0.05).Conclusion: This study revealed that sleep disorders negatively affect the academic performance and highlighted the importance of proper sleep among children and students.