Insufficient sleep duration is associated with worse self-rated health and more psychosomatic health complaints in adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between sleep duration and self-rated health and psychosomatic health complaints in a representative sample of Slovak adolescents aged 13 and 15 years. BACKGROUND: According to empirically supported recommendations adolescents age 13 to 18 years old should sleep 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health. METHODS: We used data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in 2018 in Slovakia comprising 8,405 adolescents aged from 11 to 15 years (mean age 13.43; 50.9% boys). Presented are results for specific age groups of 13-years old (n = 1,909) and 15-years old (n = 1,293) adolescents. Linear regression models adjusted for age and gender were used to asses associations between sleep duration and self-rated health and psychosomatic complaints. The modifications of the associations by age and gender were also explored. RESULTS: Insufficient sleep duration (less than 8hours) was significantly associated with worse self-rated health and more overall as well as specific psychosomatic health complaints including headache, backache, feeling low, irritability and bad temper, feeling nervous, sleeping difficulties and feeling dizzy. CONCLUSION: In order to promote the health and well-being of adolescents, interventions to improve sleep duration are needed (Tab. 3, Ref. 36).