Chronotype assessment of the Bengalese adolescents: an observational study using a Bengali version of the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ)

ABSTRACT

Chronotype or morningness orientation is an interpersonal characteristic that influence human physiology and psychology and less is known about the chronotype of the Bengalese adolescents in India. We aimed to study the chronotype of this population by using a translated version of a previously established questionnaire. 471 Bengali-speaking adolescents (13–14 years) (boys = 268, girls = 203) of West Bengal, India were included in this study and their chronotype was assessed using an interviewer-administered Bengali version of the reduced Morningness–eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ). The reliability of the translated instrument was assessed using Cronbach’s α. Chi-squared test was used to observe the chronotype distribution between the boys and girls. rMEQ scores of all the participants ranged between 5 and 25 with a median value of 17 (25–75th percentile: 15–20). Cronbach’s α was 0.751. Using cut off scores, we found 47% of our study participants were of morning chronotype, whereas the intermediate and evening types were of 50% and 3%, respectively. Chi-squared test demonstrated a significantly higher morningness among boys than the girls. The study describes the morningness orientation pattern of the Bengalese adolescents that may have some defined influence on their physiological and psychological characteristics including health and disease.

KEYWORDS:

• Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire
• Bengali version
• chronotype
• adolescents
• gender

Acknowledgements

This study is a part of the Prevalence and Risk Factors of Asthma and Allergy-related Disease among Adolescents (PERFORMANCE), a longitudinal, multicentre, observational study. The authors are thankful to the PERFORMANCE collaborators: Soumya Bhattacharjee [Murshidabad Medical College & Hospital, Berhampore, India], Prasun Haldar [Allergy & Asthma Research Centre, Kolkata, India], Santi Gopal Maity [Uluberia College, Uluberia, India], Smriti Debnath [Allergy & Asthma Research Centre, Kolkata, India], Sujoy Saha [BR Singh Hospital, Kolkata, India], Ritabrata Mitra [Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research, Kolkata, India], Saibal Moitra [Allergy & Asthma Research Centre, Kolkata, India], Moumita Biswas [Santipur State General Hospital, Santipur, India], Isabella Annesi-Maesano [INSERM and Sörbonn Université, Paris, France], Judith Garcia-Aymerich [ISGlobal, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain] and Subhabrata Moitra [ISGlobal, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain]. The authors are also grateful to the administrations of the attended schools for allowing to conduct the study; the students for participating in this study and the parents for their consents.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially supported by the unrestricted internal research grant of the Allergy & Asthma Research Centre, Kolkata.