What is the most appropriate initial question to ask about a teen who reports daytime fatigue and sleepiness in class?

What is the most appropriate initial question to ask about a teen who reports daytime fatigue and sleepiness in class?

• A. Are you taking any medications that would make you drowsy?
• B. How often do you exercise?
• C. When was the last time you had a complete physical exam?
• D. How much sleep do you get at night?

Answer: (D)

Daytime fatigue in teens is most often linked to not getting enough sleep. Asking how much sleep they get at night directly checks for sleep deprivation, which is the most common and easily modifiable cause of daytime sleepiness in adolescents. If they report limited sleep, you can immediately start discussing ways to increase sleep duration and improve sleep habits, and you’d look further into why that sleep is insufficient (school start times, screens before bed, caffeine, stress, etc.). If the amount of sleep at night is adequate, you then broaden the assessment to other possibilities like sleep quality, possible sleep disorders, or medications that might cause fatigue. The other questions don’t target the most likely and changeable factor first: sleep duration.

Daytime fatigue in teens is most often linked to not getting enough sleep. Asking how much sleep they get at night directly checks for sleep deprivation, which is the most common and easily modifiable cause of daytime sleepiness in adolescents. If they report limited sleep, you can immediately start discussing ways to increase sleep duration and improve sleep habits, and you’d look further into why that sleep is insufficient (school start times, screens before bed, caffeine, stress, etc.). If the amount of sleep at night is adequate, you then broaden the assessment to other possibilities like sleep quality, possible sleep disorders, or medications that might cause fatigue. The other questions don’t target the most likely and changeable factor first: sleep duration.