EVALUATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS ABOUT SLEEP
Sleep-Wake Cycle Disorders; Health Education; Sleep Disorders; Health Professionals; Continuing Education.
Introduction: sleep/wake cycle problems and sleep disorders are considered public health problems that can harm an individual’s quality of life and well-being. However, there is little information in the scientific literature about what health professionals in the context of PHC in Brazil know about sleep and what professional practices are related to assisting the population with sleep disorders and alterations. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge about the sleep/wake cycle and sleep disorders and the application of this knowledge in the work field of primary health care professionals in the context of the 5th Regional Public Health Unit (URSAP). Methods: The sample included 83 PHC professionals with complete higher education, of both sexes, of whom 13 (with more than 1 year of experience in PHC) participated in open interviews. Sociodemographic information and knowledge about sleep were collected through the Health and Sleep questionnaire and the Assessment of Sleep Knowledge in Medical Education (ASKME). The chi-square test was used to assess the distribution of the sample according to sociodemographic variables; sources of information; form of application of knowledge; percentage of hits and errors per knowledge question and the average percentage of hits for the questionnaire as a whole and for each domain/category. Word clouds, similarity analysis, Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC) and content analysis were performed on the qualitative data. Results: Most participants were aged 30 to 39 years (49.4%), female (72.3%), brown (50.6%), and had postgraduate degrees (61.1%). The average length of employment was 3.7 ± 4.5 years, with 68 non-medical professionals and 15 medical professionals. The level of knowledge about sleep obtained an average of 5.7 ± 1.9 on the Likert scale. The most sought-after source of information about sleep was digital media (60.2%), followed by undergraduate studies (XX%). Regarding knowledge about sleep hygiene, 35% answered “more or less” and reported using the information for routine life and guidance of PHC users. Furthermore, 73% were not aware that the PHC notebooks from the Ministry of Health guide the importance of asking patients about sleep. Regarding knowledge about sleep (Health and sleep), category 1 “Consequences of Sleep Deprivation” was the one with the highest percentage of correct answers (93.07%). Overall, the categories had 71.05% of correct answers. In ASKME, the highest percentages of correct answers were in domains 3 “Insomnia” (62.25%) and 4 “Principles of Circadian Rhythm” (62.95%). The frequency of correct answers in the total questionnaire was 44.97%. Regarding qualitative data, many professionals reported asking about patients’ sleep, especially when the patient reported sleep-related impairments. Although most professionals recognized that sleep problems were important to address, there was never any action in the workplace. However, they recognized the possibility of carrying out interventions on the subject. Regarding guidance on sleep during consultations, it was noted that most professionals felt insecure about talking about what was passed on to patients. Finally, the content analysis generated 2 thematic categories: “Work process of health professionals in their workplaces” and “Approach to sleep in the workplace: absence and possibilities of integration into the professional routine”. Final considerations: The study reinforces the importance of sleep for human health and the need for a more structured and informed approach to dealing with sleep problems. Constantly updating the knowledge of health professionals is crucial to promoting comprehensive and effective care, contributing to improving the quality of life and well-being of the population.