Abstract 18 Poster Session III, Monday, 5/3 (poster 257)

Background: Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) is an increasingly recognised sleep disorder associated with suboptimal performance at school or work. International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) criteria for diagnosis are a) an inability to fall asleep or spontaneously awaken at desired clock times, b) a phase delay of the major sleep episode, c) symptoms present for at least 1 month, d) normal sleep when strict schedules are not necessary (e.g., vacation), and e) illustration of sleep delay with a two-week sleep log. Potential pharmacologic treatments include melatonin analogues. Published estimates of its prevalence range from 0.17% in a sample of adults to 7.3% in a sample of students. A large school-based survey was undertaken to address uncertainty in prevalence of DSPS due to variability in sampling, study design and case definition in previous studies. The study is unique in that there was clinical verification of diagnosis in participants with possible DSPS.

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