Lack of Sleep and Risk Taking in Teens

We already know that when we don't get enough rest, we may not be at our best.  One study, however has shown that teens who do not get enough sleep may be prone to take more risks.  Here is the link
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/27/sleep-deprived-teens-take-more-risks/

The research also discusses that teens who do not get enough sleep may have higher rates of participating in risky behaviors "such as smoking, drinking alcohol, being sexually active, using marijuana, lower physical activity, and feeling sad or helpless."

What they  were able to identify is that when teens had less than 8 hours of sleep, the teens associated with 10 of 11 risk behaviors.  These risk behaviors included: "drinking sodas with sugar, time spent exercising per week, TV watching time and non-school related computer use, cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use, being currently sexually active, feeling sad or hopeless, fighting, and whether they had considered suicide during the past year."

Should we be concerned about our teen patient population's sleep patterns?  My argument is that yes, as a health care provider we should recognize that our patients may be participating in risky behaviors.  In practicing risky behaviors, these individuals may be more likely to become injured.  Why, you may ask?  Well, this may be the soccer player who dives to make a goal, or a football player who lowers their head to make a 'crushing' tackle on an opponent.  Perhaps we should be asking our patients, when we take their medical history what their sleep patterns are like and how many hours of sleep they get each night.  Through our queries, we may discover they are not getting enough rest.  Further probing questions may be needed in order to identify the reason or reasons.

I am not suggesting that all student-athletes who take risks on the field are sleep deprived.  What I am suggesting is that perhaps, in light of the literature, we ask our patients what their sleeping habits are.  This may assist us in providing better, quality care that is individualized for them.