Does daytime sleepiness alter visual memory in schoolchildren aged 9 to 11 at different times during the school semester?

Lívia Maria De Lima Leôncio,Flávio Henrique De Santana,Gilberto Ramos Vieira,Clécia Gabriela Bezerra,Letycia Dos Santos Neves,Rhowena Jane Barbosa De Matos,Mírian Celly Medeiros Miranda David,Tamyres Tavares Santos ,Ana Carolina Da Silva Reis ,Débora Laís Chaves Gomes

doi:10.33448/rsd-v10i12.20105

Lívia Maria De Lima Leôncio, Flávio Henrique De Santana + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v10i12.20105

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Abstract

Daytime sleepiness could reduce the memorization of children who are in school. Thus, the aim of this study was to study the effect of daytime sleepiness on the visual memory of schoolchildren at different times during the school semester. Individuals of both genders (n = 88) aged 9 to 11 years and regularly enrolled at the Mariana Amália Municipal School were selected. Data collection occurred in two moments: at the beginning and end of the academic semester. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic information, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to assess sleepiness and the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure, object recall, scrambling figures and addition of dictated numbers for memory analysis tests. The data revealed that there is no direct relationship between sleepiness and impaired memory by the tests used in any of the analyzed moments. However, children showed lower visuospatial memory efficiency at the beginning of the school semester, indicating that they may have greater difficulty in memory retention. Lastly, there was an abnormality in the degree of sleepiness at the end of the school semester and the female gender showed efficiency in immediate and late memory.

Highlights

Excessive daytime sleepiness is a problem which mainly affects children and adolescents and can be characterized by a greater feeling of need for sleep and lesser alertness (Macchitella et al, 2020)
There was a change in this profile at the end of the semester, as 19 of 58 participants had a degree of normal sleepiness, 5 participants had moderate sleepiness, and 34 presented abnormal sleepiness (Figure 1)
The evidence from the present study showed that there was an abnormality in the degree of sleepiness at the end of the school semester

Summary

Introduction

Excessive daytime sleepiness is a problem which mainly affects children and adolescents and can be characterized by a greater feeling of need for sleep and lesser alertness (Macchitella et al, 2020). Lifestyle and some environmental factors affect sleep quality and duration, which can cause insufficiency (Sinha et al, 2015). Studies show that children adopt the same habits as adults, increasing the use of electronic devices at night (Lissak, 2018; Uebergang et al, 2017). These changes in children’s lifestyles lead to new habits, significantly reducing sleep hours (Lissak, 2018; Uebergang et al, 2017). A loss of sleep regularity impairs functions such as adequate physical growth, body homeostasis and maintenance of cognitive functions, especially memory consolidation (Gustafsson et al, 2016)

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