| Author: | Leong, Sin U Cindy |
| Title: | Sleep behaviour of children in Macao SAR, China |
| Degree: | DHSc |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Subject: | Children -- Sleep -- China -- Macau (Special Administrative Region) Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Health and Social Sciences |
| Pages: | xvii, 251 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study was to investigate the sleep behaviour of children studying in local primary schools, since there is no research data available on the sleep behaviour of such children in this fast growing city of Macao, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of People's Republic of China. A questionnaire survey for primary school students was developed to guide the assessment of sleep behaviors. The research started with a literature review, followed by social observation and experience, and concluded with in-depth interviews. An inventory developed after theme identification. Sleep behaviour was measured on schooldays and over weekends. This issue has not been explored in Macao schools before. This thesis hoped to identify the factors by engaging two phases in the study. The first phase was the qualitative study and it was aimed at understanding and exploring the sleep patterns and practices from the students', as well as their parents' perspectives. Semi-structured questions were used to conduct in-depth interviews with twenty-eight participants sharing their actual experiences. These participants ranged from ages six through twelve years. The participants in each age level consisted of a boy and a girl, as well as either the father or mother of each participant. There were seven boys and seven girls of school-going age participating in the qualitative study of the six to twelve year old. With the inclusion of the fourteen parents of these students, a total of twenty-eight participants had been interviewed in the first phase of the study until data saturation was found. These participants were interviewed individually and were asked semi-structured questions. The majority of the questions were related to their sleep behaviour during school days and non-school days. A total of twenty questions were posed to the children and a similar range of questions were also compiled for their parents. Data collection was continued until data saturation was found. Their answers were transcribed verbatim to facilitate analysis and theme identification. In the second phase, a sleep behaviour questionnaire based on the findings of Phase I was compiled. The content of the questionnaire was derived from the interview data and three sleep experts assessed its ecological validity. The reliability of the instrument was subjected to testing and retesting, using a new set of twelve student participants. Once the reliability of the questionnaire had been established, a pilot study was carried out to test the procedure in a primary school. Since there was no major problem with the procedure, questionnaires were distributed to all the stratified randomly selected primary school students in Macao SAR. The sample size was four thousand one hundred and one students, selected from twenty randomly selected schools. The results showed that 3,049 (82%) of the respondents were having less than the recommended 10 sleeping hours on weekdays during non-exam periods, while 3,289 (88.6%) were having less than 10 hours of sleep on weekdays during exam time. Except for taking care of personal hygiene before sleep, the other variables were not executed properly by the students. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b25514398.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 6.38 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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