title: Is the population properly informed about sleep disorders?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure the prior knowledge about sleep disorders and patient's ability to report their problems adequately to health professionals.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 208 patient's records and extracted the following information: date of birth, gender, medical diagnostic hypotheses, patient's primary complaint in their words, considering the most appropriated semantic approximation to the perceptual phenomena, either by their own or by reasoning information from the partner. We compared the agreement (Kappa's test) between patient's complaint and medical diagnosis. The 95% confidence interval was used to analyze proportions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found strong correlations for bruxism; moderate for snoring, insomnia, nightmares, somniloquy, and restless legs syndrome; fair for excessive movement during sleep (EMDS) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The observed correlations were heterogeneous, but important diseases such as OSA and EMDS in children showed fair and weak correlations. This suggests an unsatisfactory knowledge level among the population about these disorders, despite their high prevalence and impact on patient's overall health.
authors.affiliation: Neurosono Sleep Center, Department of Neurology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eleida Pereira
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: Luciane Bizari Coin
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Lucila Bizari Fernandes
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: Gilmar Fernandes
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Prado
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002012:Bruxism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012913:Snoring / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult