Fatores associados e relações entre o padrão sono, sonolência excessiva diurna e obesidade em amostra populacional da zona rural de Caicó - RN

Abstract

The sleep pattern and duration expressed in a population can predict health conditions. There is evidence of urbanization promoting irregularity and sleep deprivation, related to the increase of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and obesity in the world, although scarce literature describes such associations in rural populations. This study evaluated the sleep pattern, occurrence of EDS, and selfreported obesity in a population sample from the rural area of Caicó in the state of RN. Data collection was performed using the Sociodemographic and Munich Questionnaires, with the addition of questions to assess naps; Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS); weight, and height. The final sample had 306, distributed in nine rural communities, with greatest prevalence of subjects over 51 years old (40%), female (66%), with less than primary education (65.5%), with a partner (76.8%), with income of less than three minimum wages (91%) and who did not directly practice any rural activity (63.5%). Most respondents reported a sedentary lifestyle (58.4%), having three meals a day (59.4%), non-smokers (88.1%) and non-alcoholics (72.6%). The sleep pattern (Bed time: 9 pm; awakening: 5 am; approximate duration of sleep: 8h/night) did not present variations between week days and weekends, based on these data, a low rate and amplitude of social jet lag was observed. Based on the chronotype classification for this sample, the predominance of morning (34.4%) and intermediate (36.6%) chronotypes was observed. There was an occurrence of EDS in 20% of the sample, concomitantly to the reporting of naps, which lasted an average of 1h/day (73.8%). Self-reported overweight was observed in 66.3% of the sample, with a significant association with age, marital status, presence of at least one obese parent and chronotype. Thus, the study revealed that the sociodemographic profile was similar to that of habitual users of the health service in that area and that residents of the rural area of the semi-arid region allocate the sleep episode in response to the environmental and sociocultural factors experienced, such as geographic positioning, low urbanization, daytime demand for rural labor, prevention of thermal exposure and solar irradiation. In addition, the low variability in the expressed sleep pattern and the duration of sleep per night, associated with the frequent habit of napping, suggest that this rural population has a satisfactory amount of sleep, which could be associated with the low prevalence of EDS. Finally, it is considered that revealing sociodemographic and behavioral habits in association with sleep pattern, occurrence of EDS and obesity in this sample population is of great importance for the construction of actions that meet their health needs and for the formulation of strategies to the prevention of diseases.