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      Sleep habits and sleep problems among Palestinian students

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          Abstract

          Aim

          The aim of this study was to describe sleep habits and sleep problems in a population of undergraduates in Palestine. Association between self-reported sleep quality and self-reported academic achievement was also investigated.

          Methods

          Sleep habits and problems were investigated using a convenience sample of students from An-Najah National University, Palestine. The study was carried out during spring semester, 2009. A self-administered questionnaire developed based on The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV criteria and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used.

          Results

          400 students with a mean age of 20.2 ± 1.3 were studied. Reported mean duration of night sleep in the study sample was 6.4 ± 1.1 hours. The majority (58.3%) of students went to bed before midnight and 18% of the total sample woke up before 6 am. Sleep latency of more than one hour was present in 19.3% of the students. Two thirds (64.8%) of the students reported having at least one nocturnal awakening per night. Nightmares were the most common parasomnia reported by students. Daytime naps were common and reported in 74.5% of the study sample. Sleep quality was reported as "poor" in only 9.8% and was significantly associated with sleep latency, frequency of nocturnal awakenings, time of going to bed, nightmares but not with academic achievement.

          Conclusion

          Sleep habits among Palestinian undergraduates were comparable to those reported in European studies. Sleep problems were common and there was no significant association between sleep quality and academic achievement.

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          Most cited references42

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          Sleep loss, learning capacity and academic performance.

          At a time when several studies have highlighted the relationship between sleep, learning and memory processes, an in-depth analysis of the effects of sleep deprivation on student learning ability and academic performance would appear to be essential. Most studies have been naturalistic correlative investigations, where sleep schedules were correlated with school and academic achievement. Nonetheless, some authors were able to actively manipulate sleep in order to observe neurocognitive and behavioral consequences, such as learning, memory capacity and school performance. The findings strongly suggest that: (a) students of different education levels (from school to university) are chronically sleep deprived or suffer from poor sleep quality and consequent daytime sleepiness; (b) sleep quality and quantity are closely related to student learning capacity and academic performance; (c) sleep loss is frequently associated with poor declarative and procedural learning in students; (d) studies in which sleep was actively restricted or optimized showed, respectively, a worsening and an improvement in neurocognitive and academic performance. These results may been related to the specific involvement of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in vulnerability to sleep loss. Most methodological limitations are discussed and some future research goals are suggested.
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            Sleep quality versus sleep quantity: relationships between sleep and measures of health, well-being and sleepiness in college students.

            Two studies assessed whether measures of health, well-being, and sleepiness are better related to sleep quality or sleep quantity. In both studies, subjects completed a 7-day sleep log followed by a battery of surveys pertaining to health, well-being, and sleepiness. In subjects sleeping an average of 7 hours a night, average sleep quality was better related to health, affect balance, satisfaction with life, and feelings of tension, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion than average sleep quantity. In addition, average sleep quality was better related to sleepiness than sleep quantity. These results indicate that health care professionals should focus on sleep quality in addition to sleep quantity in their efforts to understand the role of sleep in daily life.
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              The prevalence of sleep disorders in college students: impact on academic performance.

              To examine the prevalence of risk for sleep disorders among college students by gender and age, and their associations with grade point average (GPA). Participants were 1,845 college students at a large, southeastern public university. A validated sleep disorder questionnaire surveyed sleep data during the 2007-2008 academic year. Students' GPAs were obtained from the office of the registrar. Twenty-seven percent of students were at risk for at least one sleep disorder. African American and Asian students reported less risk for insomnia and fewer poor sleep practices relative to white and Latino students. Students reported insufficient sleep and a discrepancy between weekday and weekend amount of sleep. Students at risk for sleep disorders were overrepresented among students in academic jeopardy (GPA < 2.0). Many college students are at risk for sleep disorders, and those at risk may also be at risk for academic failure.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health
                Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
                BioMed Central
                1753-2000
                2011
                15 July 2011
                : 5
                : 25
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, An-Najah National University, Nablus, P.O.Box 7, Palestine
                [2 ]Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, An-Najah National University, Nablus, P.O.Box 7, Palestine
                Article
                1753-2000-5-25
                10.1186/1753-2000-5-25
                3148974
                21762479
                efd72ddb-eaef-41e9-aaf6-c4c8e52b1e6c
                Copyright ©2011 Sweileh et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 19 April 2011
                : 15 July 2011
                Categories
                Research

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry

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