Original Research Article 91 http://www.jhealthres.org J Health Res  vol.30 no.2 April 2016 PREVALENCE OF POOR SLEEP QUALITY AND ITS CORRELATES AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BANGKOK, THAILAND Nuchanad Hounnaklang 1 , Somrat Lertmaharit 2, * , Vitool Lohsoonthorn 2 , Thanapoom Rattananupong 2 1 College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand 2 Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand ABSTRACT: Background: Sleep plays important roles in physical and mental development among adolescents. Prevalence of poor sleep quality and its correlates among high school students were investigated. Methods: This study covered 1,080 high school students completing the questionnaire of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral factors, and student-related factors. Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence intervals (CI). Results: Prevalence of poor sleep quality was 32.0% (95% CI: 29.26, 34.91). Multivariable logistic regression showed that female students (OR=1.49; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.98), weekly allowance (OR=1.44; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.88), school activity ≥6 hrs./week (OR=1.68; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.59), smoking (OR=1.90; 95% CI: 1.28, 2.81) and caffeine consumption >1 cup/day (OR=3.14; 95% CI: 1.47, 6.71) were associated with poor sleep quality. Conclusions: In such urban and modernized environment as the Bangkok metropolitan area, the prevalence of poor sleep quality among high school students is relatively high. Also, gender, weekly allowance, school activity, smoking and caffeine consumption are associated with poor sleep quality. Keywords: Prevalence, Sleep quality, Poor sleep, Adolescent health, High school student, Thailand DOI: 10.14456/jhr.2016.13 Received: May 2015; Accepted: August 2015 INTRODUCTION Sleep is essential to human being in that it can properly maintain physical and mental health. A number of studies have found that poor sleep has associated with daytime sleepiness, exhaustion, weight gain [1], obesity [2], impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes [3], impaired memory [4], depression and anxiety [5], higher risk of motor vehicle accidents [6-8]. Over the past decades, socio-economic, cultural, and racial factors have been found to be related to sleep problems [8-11]. Age and gender have also been reported to be associated with sleep quality [12, 13]. It has been discovered that * Correspondence to: Somrat Lertmaharit E-mail: somrat.L@chula.ac.th academic obligation is one of the key factors impacting the sleep patterns. The findings from Taipei, Taiwan indicated that the students in more academic challenging programs reported less sleep and lower level of alertness than those in the less challenging programs [14]; in America, the students on the academic fast track were likely to sleep less [15]. Additionally, adolescents engaging in school or community-related activities were at greater risk from sleepiness [16]. The use of stimulant like caffeine generally found in coffee, tea, chocolate, and soft drinks resulted in poor sleep and daytime drowsiness which, in turn, could lead to an increasing consumption the next day [17]. The sleep quality and sleep patterns were found to be associated with caffeine consumption among Thai college students [18]. Cite this article as: Hounnaklang N, Lertmaharit S, Lohsoonthorn V, Rattananupong T. Prevalence of poor sleep quality and its correlates among high school students in Bangkok, Thailand. J Health Res. 2016; 30(2): 91-8. DOI: 10.14456/jhr.2016.13