EVALUATION OF SLEEP HEALTH KNOWLEDGE AND PRATICES AMONG PRIMARY HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE 5TH HEALTH REGION OF RIO GRANDE DO NORTE
Sleep; Knowledge; Sleep Wake Disorders; Health Personnel; Education, Continuing
Introduction: Problems with the sleep/wake cycle and sleep disorders are considered to be public health problems that can affect the quality of life and well-being of individuals. In Brazil, most of these health problems are dealt with by Primary Health Care (PHC), which is the gateway to the Unified Health System (SUS). However, the scientific literature is scarce on what health professionals in the context of PHC know about sleep problems and disorders. It is therefore necessary to emphasize the importance of updating health professionals' knowledge of sleep problems and disorders. Objective: To assess the knowledge of the sleep/wake cycle and the application of this knowledge in the field of work by primary health care professionals in the context of the 5th Regional Public Health Unit (URSAP). Objective: To evaluate knowledge about the sleep/wake cycle and application of this knowledge in the field of work among primary health care professionals in the context of the 5th Regional Public Health Unit (URSAP). Methods: This is a mixed method work, exploratory-descriptive. The research was carried out in municipalities that are part of the 5th URSAP, in the Trairí and Potengi regions. The sample of the study was established in 152 individuals, selected through the non-random convenience method. However, for the qualitative part, the number of individuals in the sample was defined due to data saturation. The sample included PHC professionals who had completed higher education and managers (regardless of their level of education) working in municipalities included in the 5th URSAP, of both sexes, aged at least 18 and who agreed to take part in the research. For the qualitative part, the exclusion criterion of having worked in PHC for less than a year was added. Data were collected from a semi-structured form that was divided into 2 modules: “Personal data” and “Sleep Knowledge”, which included part of the Health and Sleep questionnaire, and the Assessment of Sleep Knowledge in Medical Education ( ASK ME). The quantitative data were imported into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22.0 and the Chi-square test of adherence was used to evaluate the distribution of sociodemographic variables; objective questions from the general knowledge assessment form about the sleep and wake cycle; sources of information and questions about the application of this knowledge in the field of work. For the evaluation of “A Saúde e o Sono” and “ASKME”, the percentage of correct answers and errors per question was calculated, and the average percentage of correct answers was calculated for the questionnaire as a whole and for each domain/category. The qualitative data were analyzed using the Interface de R pour les Analyzes Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires (IRAMUTEQ) software and the word cloud method and similarity analysis were carried out. Expected results: It is expected that the results of this study will contribute to the discussion about sleep and the need for ongoing education by PHC health professionals with support from the local government, and thus have positive impacts on the approach to the topic in professional practice and may in the future be contributing to the correct identification of sleep problems, adoption of measures and, thus, better assistance and quality of life for the population.