Avaliação do efeito do jogo "quarto perfeito: aprenda a dormir bem” nos parâmetros e hábitos de sono de crianças saudáveis

Abstract

Insufficient and irregular sleep may be influenced by the presence of inadequate sleep habits. Interventions that promote healthy sleep, such as those that focus on the dissemination of behavioral and environmental recommendations of sleep hygiene with children, are presented as an alternative. Serious/educative games aim to promote knowledge and behavioral changes, including the entertainment features. These games are particularly interesting for children and teens because of its potential to engage and motivate players. This study aims to evaluate effects of serious game on sleep hygiene recommendations "Perfect Bedroom: learn to sleep well", on sleep habits and sleep parameters of healthy children. Study would be realized with children from a private school in Natal (Rio Grande do Norte), however, parental adherence was lower than expected and was necessary to build strategies to promote parental involvement and change the participating institutions. Two groups were composed, experimental (EG) (n = 8; 5 boys, 3 girls) and control (CG) (n = 5; 3 boys, 2 girls), composed per children aged 7 to 8 years, in which sleep pattern, sleep habits and somnolence were evaluated in three moments: pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up (after four weeks). Intervention with the serious game "Perfect Bedroom: learn to sleep well" happened twice a week, for three weeks in a row, lasting up to 50 minutes. Based on parents' reports, results showed an increase of 45 minutes in bedtime in school days and 5 minutes at weekends, an increase in calm activities for the EG in comparison to the CG. However, there was no alteration in activities with electronic devices post-intervention. The results based on children's responses indicated a reduction in the number of electronic objects in bedroom and actions with these devices close to bedtime for the GE. However, these changes were not statistically significant. It is concluded that the game provided a positive and fun experience for children, although the intervention did not promote a significant improvement in sleep pattern, sleepiness and sleep habits of children, possibly to: sampling size, absence of intervention with parents, inclusion of participants who studied in the afternoon shift, limitations of intervention or absence of evaluation of long-term follow-up.