Avaliação da qualidade do sono nos acadêmicos de graduação em enfermagem / Evaluation of sleep quality in undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Introduction: Sleep is a natural physiological process, complementary to wakefulness, reversible and cyclical, where several systems act together, contributing to the maintenance of homeostasis, thermoregulation, concentration, memory consolidation and learning processes . Sleep alterations and disorders can cause significant cognitive impairments, directly affecting quality of life, in addition to resulting in impairments in the performance of studies, at work, in family and social relationships. Therefore, the university population, which already tends to have an irregular sleep pattern, resulting from academic and professional demands, and a greater propensity to bad habits, is subject to having its learning process and academic performance compromised. Therefore, this research intends to investigate the habits and quality of sleep of undergraduate students. Objective: To analyze the quality of sleep of undergraduate Nursing students, through the application of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) or Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-BR) questionnaire. Method: This is a field study, prospective and cross-sectional, with a quantitative approach. The research was carried out in a private college, located in the south zone of the city of São Paulo. The sample consisted of students of the morning period of the undergraduate nursing course, of both sexes, enrolled in the institution. Two data collection instruments were used. The first comprised a questionnaire to characterize the participant. The second instrument was the Brazilian Portuguese version of the PSQI or PSQI-BR questionnaire. The participants were invited to participate in the research and, after explaining the objectives of the study, they received the Informed Consent Form. The researchers undertake to use the data exclusively for this study, respecting the ethical and legal principles of Resolution 466/2012 of the National Health Council. The collected data were submitted to statistical analysis and the results presented through figures and tables. Results: With a total sample of 167 academics, the study showed that 67.6% (113) had poor quality sleep patterns. It was also possible to identify the main factors that affect the quality of sleep of nursing students. It was found that 22.2% (37) of the students used medication to help them sleep. In addition, 77.8% (130) revealed difficulty staying awake while driving, eating or participating in a social activity. Most declared it problematic to maintain enthusiasm in their usual activities. Conclusions: This group is predominantly composed of people who sleep, on average, a smaller number of hours, have greater daytime sleepiness and use more drugs with hypnotic purposes when compared to the adult population in general. The high prevalence of poor sleep quality observed in this study may be due to the academic, professional and social demands imposed on students. It is recommended planning and regularity of activity schedules throughout the undergraduate years and the adoption of practices to improve the use of the period available for sleep and contribute to a better quality of life.