Author/Authors :
Ebrahimnegad Shirvani، Mahbubeh نويسنده Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences,
Tehran, IR Iran , , Tayebi، Sirous نويسنده Digestive Disease Research Center, Tehran University of
Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran , , Khashayar، Patricia نويسنده Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. , , Pourabbasi، Ata نويسنده Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran
University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran ,
Abstract :
The most important factors affecting students’ learning ability are
attention and concentration, which are impaired by daytime sleepiness in
classroom. This study was conducted to determine the effect of nasal
septal deviation on daytime sleepiness and school performance among high
school students. This study comprised 172 high school male students, who
were examined for septal deviation by a practitioner. Daytime sleepiness
was determined by school consultants. Grade point average (GPA) was
considered as an index for school performance. Nasal septal deviation
was significantly more prevalent among sleepy students (46.8%) compared
to their attentive peers (22.8%, P < 0.05). Although the GPAs in
students with septal nasal deviation were lower than other students, the
difference was not statistically significant. It is not unlikely that
nasal cavity deformities such as septal deviation that results in sleep
disturbances would lead to poor school performance in students. However,
the question to be answered is whether deviated nasal septum is the only
cause of poor performance of students or it involves some other
mechanisms. Further studies are needed to confirm this relationship and
whether reconstruction of structural anomalies of the nasal cavity in
students prevents daytime sleepiness and subsequently improves their
school performance.
