Sleep disorders among adolescents in Nigeria: The development of an assessment instrument (Sleep Disorders in Nigeria Questionnaire [SDINQ])

Introduction Nigerian adolescents report various sleep disorders metaphorically based on the local/native description of such disorders. Hence, it is sometimes difficult for clinicians without a good grasp of the nuance in their description to understand their presentation. Aim To develop a culturally relevant (Nigerian) instrument for assessing sleep disorders. Methods One thousand two hundred and twenty-seven Nigerian Secondary School adolescents (634 males and 593 females) between 12–19 years with mean age of 15.20 (SD = 1.5) were administered a 44 item instrument developed following the DSM (V), American Association of Sleep Medicine's International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD, 2005) criteria, and case reports of sleep disorders. The data was subjected to a Principal Component Analysis using Varimax rotation. Result Ten factors instead of the original eleven factors suggested by the authors emerged in the analysis and on closer examination and in juxtaposition with cultural nuances, it was found the ten factors were in line with what is generally reported by adolescents. Sleep walking disorders and sleep related movement disorders loaded in one factor labelled sleep movement disorders, while items representing non restorative sleep experiences, sleep talking, sleep paralysis, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, narcolepsy, insomnia, sleep terror disorder and nightmare disorder loaded on their individual factors. The SDINQ showed a Cronbach Alpha of .916 and a good correlation with subscales of the School Sleep Habits Survey (SSHS). Conclusions The SDINQ has been found to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the presence of sleep disorders among adolescents in Nigeria.